Getting three home-cooked meals a day into our grandchildren seems like an impossible goal given today's pace of life. Yet children's need for good, nourishing food remains a constant. The latest University of Auckland research on childhood obesity reveals that more than 50% of children do not eat the recommended daily servings of fruit and vegetables.
The study, tracking 871 Pakeha children from birth to teens, also shows that rates of overweight and obesity continue to increase as the children become older, with nearly a quarter of the sample either overweight or obese by 11 years of age.
However, it's not all bad news. Innovative Auckland company ezlunch has developed an online lunch service that can help families get the right kind of food into their kids at school. In fact ezlunch has been selected as a pilot supplier in the fresh food category of the Heart Foundation's fuelled4Life initiative, just launched.
Started two years ago, ezlunch is the brainchild of an Auckland mother who despaired at the lack of healthy lunch options available for her own children. Currently over 13,000 children have access to nourishing school meals provided by the company.
"I want to support families and make it easy for them to get healthy food into their children. With an increasing number of families run by two working parents, I realised that there was a need for convenient food that was affordable, healthy and appealing to children," said company founder Sandra Finlay.
"If ezlunch isn't currently on offer at your grandchild's school, contact us and we'll do our best to get the service into your school."
