Frogs legs and paella may not be the obvious choice for packed lunch but there are many other more practical alternatives to crisps and chocolate.
European cuisine is the focus of study for children at Southmoor community school in Sunderland who are investigating how to eat more healthily. A group of Year 8 pupils will compare diaries of what they eat during one week of their normal diet and one week experimenting with European food.
They will calculate the fat and calorie content and the cost of different meals.
Follow-up lessons may involve cooking continental recipes and looking at American and Indian alternatives.
Jean Thom, director of learning, said: “We are bombarded with news on how unhealthy children are and staff in the modern languages faculty felt this was a novel way to raise awareness of health issues as well as interest in other countries and cultures.”
