This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Galbraith Urges Scottish Schoolchildren: Cook Today for a Healthier Tomorrow
19/01/1999
Scottish Health Minister Sam Galbraith, has urged Scottish schoolchildren to cook today so they can enjoy a healthier tomorrow. Welcoming today's launch of the Scottish Consultative Council on the curriculum's "Smart Cooking" practical food preparation course, Mr Galbraith said:
"If we are to have any hope of achieving a healthier life for future generations, we must start by encouraging today's schoolchildren to choose a healthier diet. Skills learned in school can shape their entire lives. That goes for cooking skills too.
"So to help our young people build on their knowledge of nutrition and the cooking skills they gained in the first two years of their secondary schooling, the Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum have developed an excellent practical cookery skills course - "Smart Cooking" - with the support of The Scottish Office Education and Industry Department and funding of over £26,000 from the Health Department. Special packs with a range of recipes selected to reflect the dietary targets for Scotland for the year 2005, are being sent to all secondary schools this week.
"I am very pleased to see this course being launched today and am delighted that yet a further recommendation of the Scottish Diet Action Plan has been taken forward in such a positive and innovative way. I have no doubt that pupils will enjoy this course. It doesn't preach healthy eating. It shows rather how, with only a little effort, they can cook for themselves and their families, food which is not only good for their health, now and in the future, but also fun to prepare and to eat - items such as pasta with spicy sauce, fruity Tofu stir-fry with rice and banana and apple trifle.
"My congratulations to the Council for their impressive contribution to improving Scotland's health."
BACKGROUND
1. "Eating for Health: A Diet Action Plan for Scotland" was published by The Scottish Office Department of Health in 1996. The Plan contains a wide range of complementary recommendations for improving the diet, and thus the health, of the Scottish population and for helping meet the dietary targets set for 2005. £0.5m of public funds is currently being made available each year by the Government to support the Plan's recommendations.
2. The "Smart Cooking" course implements a key recommendation of the Plan. By the time they reach the end of Year two of secondary school, pupils should, through existing education provision, have developed a good understanding of the principles of healthy eating and its practical application. However, such knowledge and skills require to be maintained and the course responds to this need, as identified in the Plan.
3. A "Smart Cooking" pack is being distributed by the Scottish Council on the Curriculum free of charge to all secondary schools in Scotland.
4. A copy of the Scottish Diet Action Plan is available online at www.scotland.gov.UK/library/document/diet-00. Copies of the publication (ISBN0748031383) are also available, free of charge, from The Stationery Office Bookshop, 71 Lothian Road, Edinburgh, EH3 9AZ (Tel: 0131 228 4181).
News Release: 0081/99
19 January, 1999