The importance of a healthy diet was firmly on the menu for children at one of the island’s primary schools this week.

Year six (10- to 11-year-old) pupils at Manor Park School in Pulrose were the first to be visited by the School Nursing Team as part of Healthy Eating week.

The team will be visiting all 24 of the island’s primary schools where they are running interactive sessions on the importance of eating a healthy breakfast.

Claire Campbell, a teacher of years five and six, said the children had greatly enjoyed the session.

’They were told about the importance of eating breakfast and how it helps them to concentrate at school,’ she said.

’Then they looked at what the healthy choices were. They had boxes of cereal and they had to decide what was an appropriate portion to take - most were over - and they were able to scan them to see how much sugar they contained. They had a great time.’

She said the session linked well with healthy eating work the children had been doing.

Joining the children at the launch of the initiative was Health and Social Care Minister Kate Beecroft MHK.

The scheme follows in the wake of reported increases in childhood obesity and it will focus on the perils of hidden sugar in many foods. The sessions will help children to understand food labelling and the red, amber and green traffic light system used on packages to indicate levels of ingredients such as sugar, fat and salt.

A spokesman for Health and Social Care said the recommended maximum daily sugar intake for children aged seven to 10 was six sugar cubes, yet a survey by Public Health England showed many ate the equivalent of three (11 grams) at breakfast time alone.

The team’s aim at the end of the session was for the children to understand what makes a healthy breakfast, what makes a healthy portion size and how to tell from food labels if a breakfast is healthy or unhealthy.