Advocacy Tips for Parent Champions

Parents are the best advocates for their own child's nutritional welfare. We have compiled a list of The Parents Jury's top advocacy suggestions to help you on your way to becoming a parent champion. Implementing even just one or two of these tips can help create a healthier and better school for your children.

We encourage you to take action today and become a healthy school advocate!

Does your child's school canteen comply with your state or territory's school nutrition guidelines? Check the guidelines and compare them to your child's school canteen menu. If the school is not complying, it is time to take action! Speak with other parents at the school, the canteen manager, school principal or your child's class teacher to urge them to implement healthier options that are in line with government recommendations.

Write a letter to your child's school principal or school council, requesting that your state or territory's school nutrition guidelines are applied to the whole school environment, including the following areas:

• • • school canteen
    • vending machines
    • fundraising
    • classroom rewards
    • excursions
    • sponsorship
    • events
      
      

Set a good example and only pack healthy yummy food in your child's lunchbox. Other children will see that healthy food can be really delicious. Click here to see The Parents' Jury's top 10 healthy lunch box suggestions recommended by parents.

Ask your child's teacher about the food that will be provided before an excursion or special event takes place. If you find it unacceptable, let them know and request a healthy alternative.

• • • Encourage your school to prepare a document outlining appropriate foods for incursions and excursions to be given to external activity and food providers.
      
      

Volunteer at your child's school canteen and where possible have input into the canteen management to make sure your concerns for healthy food are heard. It is often easier to instigate change from the inside!

Suggest that the existing canteen management/volunteer group becomes a ‘nutrition committee' which oversees the whole school's nutrition policy and provides expertise and support to the school community.

• • • The committee can prepare a healthy menu for school events, provide useful handouts for classes or run cooking demos and ‘hands on' nutrition lessons for students.
      
      

Approach your child's teacher, or the school council about introducing fruit breaks in the classroom.  Ask for children to be allowed to keep a water bottle on their desk at all times.

Discuss:
The benefits of children eating fruit regularly at school.
The benefits of children staying hydrated with water throughout the day.
The best time of day for a fruit break to be implemented.
What activities the children can do at the same time (reading, quiet work, while the teacher reads).

Submit an article about healthy food for the school newsletter to keep other parents informed and involved. You can write your own or download some sample articles written by The Parents' Jury team. 

If your child is receiving unhealthy food or sugary soft drink as a reward at school, speak with their teacher about alternative non-food rewards. There are many other rewards that children will be really happy to receive that are not detrimental to their health.

• • • Click here for alternative suggestions that you can print and give to the teacher.
    • Attend a PTA or school council meeting to raise the issue with other parents and decision makers.
    • Click here to find out whether providing unhealthy food in the classroom breaches your state's school nutrition guidelines.