News

National Dairy Council Invests €600,000 in 2009 School Milk Campaign -
Balanced Diet and Balanced Lifestyle Central to New Programme

(Thursday 23 April 2009) The National Dairy Council is investing €600,000 in 2009 in a major new initiative to expand the participation of Irish schools and Irish children in the School Milk & Dairy Programme, with a strong focus on dairy foods as part of a balanced diet and balanced lifestyle.

The first ever major investment of its kind in Ireland, the 2009 campaign is part of a 5 year NDC strategy which aims to increase participation in the School Milk & Dairy programme by 35% before 2012.

Helping to Combat the Nutritional Gap

Speaking at the announcement, NDC Chief Executive Helen Brophy said that despite our recent Celtic Tiger years, affluence did not necessarily translate into a better diet for many. “Unlike most European countries, Ireland has never had a national school lunch programme. With localised regions of “food poverty” and the growing issue of childhood obesity, good nutrition is clearly not an automatic consequence of modern living,” said Ms Brophy.

Irish research tells us that a significant proportion of teenagers do not have adequate calcium intake and that nearly one third of Irish adults (29%) do not consume the basic “three servings of dairy a day” recommended by the Irish Department of Health & Children for health and wellbeing (refs 1 & 2).

“Ireland has traditionally tended to lag behind Europe in terms of participation in School Milk Programmes – but this now has an even more significant relevance, in terms of influencing dietary habits and helping to alleviate the obesity epidemic which is facing Irish society,” said Ms Brophy.

“Children and teenagers need all the encouragement they can get to switch to healthier snacking habits and to get back to the basics of the Food Pyramid with more regularly balanced diets,” says Helen Brophy.

NDC & FAI - Balancing Diets and Healthy Lifestyles

The NDC campaign to increase School Milk Programme participation by schools and school children, sees the introduction of an innovative partnership between the NDC and the Football Association of Ireland. This provides a combined focus on nutrition and the role of milk as part of a balanced diet; and on exercise as part of a balanced and healthy lifestyle.

The unique partnership will see Club Promotion Officers from League of Ireland clubs working with ten dairy co-op members in regions throughout Ireland in order to visit schools which have scope to expand participation in the School Milk & Dairy Programme. The NDC and FAI have set a target to reach 500 schools in 2009. Most of these schools will be at primary level, however the 2009 campaign includes a pilot programme to test the possible introduction of the campaign at secondary school level.

Football club officers will be involved in real sporting engagement and discussions with school children on exercise and sports performance with presentations on the benefits of dairy consumption, within the context of a healthy and balanced diet.

Launch at Enniskerry – The First School

The NDC campaign was launched at St. Mary’s and St. Gerard’s National School in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, the first school to engage in the new programme.

Supported by players and colleagues from the local League of Ireland club, Bray Wanderers and FAI coaches, children at the Enniskerry school also celebrated with visits by personalities including news broadcaster Sharon Ni Bheolain – and former Republic of Ireland international soccer player, Ray Houghton.

John Delaney – Healthy & Balanced Diet A Key to Sporting Success

Speaking at St. Mary’s and St. Gerard’s National School, John Delaney, Chief Executive of the Football Association of Ireland said: “At the FAI we recognise that one of the keys to sporting success is ensuring that young people are enjoying a healthy and balanced diet. Football is the largest participation sport in Ireland with 450,000 people involved across all age groups.”

“We hope that the innovative partnership between the NDC and FAI will use the medium of soccer to promote important nutritional and healthy lifestyle messages - and ultimately to encourage more schools and more pupils to participate in the School Milk & Dairy Scheme, with real long term benefits for young people,” said Mr Delaney.
“Cool” Investment in the School Milk & Dairy Programme

1,359 schools with approximately 69,746 pupils are currently participating in Ireland’s School Milk & Dairy Programme. The NDC has already invested considerable resources during 2008 in reviewing the Programme including research and assessment of overseas programmes. The existing School Milk & Dairy Programme was subsequently upgraded so that schools and students already participating will see improved efficiencies and accessibility.

The campaign to expand participation by school and school children sees further investment in 2009 in the school liaison and visits programme, production of curriculum resources and parent information packs. Incentives for schools based on achieving minimum participation levels will include sports equipment and FAI sports packs. €50,000 will be spent on the provision of fridges which will be made available on a “first come” basis, to those schools which achieve a required level of new student participation and who do not currently have adequate refrigeration facilities in place to meet their school milk needs. Cool bags/boxes will also be introduced to retain milk temperature when it is delivered to schools.

“We want to create the right environment to help Irish co-ops and dairies to expand the school milk programme,” said Ms Brophy. “The investment in fridges is significant for us but is intended as a practical support to the programme because we are naturally interested in making sure that children have access to milk, but that the milk is tasting its best – fresh and cool, from the fridge.”

 

 

References

* Ref 1: IUNA research which has found that 42% of teenage girls do not have enough calcium as part of their regular diets. By comparison, 23% of teenage boys do not have enough calcium. (*IUNA, Irish Universities Nutrition Alliance, National Teen’s Food Survey).

* Ref 2: TNS mrbi research (April 2008)

 

 

For further information contact:

- For NDC Antonina Ni Dhuinn, Progress Communications Tel 01-2766117 nina@progresspr.ie

- For FAI Eoghan Rice, FAI Tel 01-8999557 eoghan.rice@fai.ie