Water, milk and milk alternatives: the government is seeking feedback on a plan to ban all other drinks from primary schools to keep children healthy.
Chris Hipkins Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Education Minister Chris Hipkins said consultation on the plan was opening today and would run for eight weeks until 2 June, giving the public a say on the plan and other options being considered.
Hipkins said the government also wanted feedback on similar measures in secondary schools, though there was no proposal for that as yet.
He said dental decay was the most common disease in children in New Zealand, and rates of childhood obesity had increased significantly between September 2020 and August 2021.
While most schools already had a healthy food and drinks policy, he said there were a few holdouts still serving unhealthy drinks.
"Sugar-sweetened beverages account for more than a quarter of children's sugar intake in New Zealand," Hipkins said.
"Promoting healthy food and drink in schools is common practice in other OECD countries. Evidence also shows the earlier in a child's development that healthy habits can be encouraged, the better."
The plan would see state schools, character schools including kura kaupapa Māori, state integrated schools, specialist and distance schools required through a new Education and Training Act-based regulation to introduce rules allowing only water, low-fat milk and non-dairy milk alternatives.
The current National Administration Guidelines (NAGs) which set the government's requirements for school boards include a requirement for healthy food and nutrition, and the government has been encouraging the voluntary uptake of healthy food and water-only policies since 2009.
However, the NAGs are set to expire from 1 January next year. The government is aiming to bring the new regulations into force before then.
Hipkins said the rule change would not extend to what children brought to school in lunch boxes or drink bottles, which was a matter for individual schools.
"What we're talking about is that there should be rules in place that prevents schools selling or giving out unhealthy drinks in the school grounds ... we're talking about what schools supply, rather than what parents supply."
He rejected criticism it was a 'Nanny state' imposition.
"We do want to hear from parents, we want to hear what parents have to say. If there's a strong objection from parents to this then obviously we'll consider that pretty closely, but I actually think most parents are quite sympathetic to the fact that primary school-aged kids really should be having healthy drinks."