The public health directorate is to regulate the type of food provided as school meals. Concerned about the amount of food with high calories and sugar content, the emphasis is to be on the Mediterranean diet. The regulation will apply in the health sector as well; hospitals, therefore.
The director of public health, Maria Ramos, explains that her department is concluding the drafting of a decree for healthy food. It is set to be approved before the end of the year, and it should therefore be applied as from the start of the 2019-2020 school year.
Covered in the regulation will be food and drink dispensers and points of sale as well as canteens and cafeteria in education and health establishments. Ramos adds that it is important to make the public aware of healthy eating that is based on the Mediterranean diet and less on pastries and sweets.
More than just stop the provision of less healthy food, the health ministry wants to shift eating habits away from the likes of sugars and processed meats towards the consumption of fruit, vegetables and legumes.
The regulation comes at a time when, as a recent study pointed out, 25% of pupils in Balearic schools are overweight, with ten per cent classified as obese.