Is the school lunch box all washed up?

Calls this week for school lunch boxes to be produced in uniform drab brown colours to make them less attractive to children are being considered by the Government.

Campaigners have long argued that the contents of the school lunch box is harmful and that junk food and indequate nutrition contribute to the growing problem of childhood obesity rates and poor results in numeracy and literacy.

One pressure group said: "We know that children become addicted to packed lunches at a young age. This is a major public health issue and action needs to be taken now."

Recent research has shown that what you eat for your lunch as a child determines your food choices for the rest of your life. You only have to see how popular sandwiches and fizzy drinks are amongst adults. It can all be traced back to the school packed lunch.

In Australia the government took the brave step of legislating to make lunch boxes have plain covers with standardised health messages on the outside. "These images are graphic and, we make no apologies for that," said a Ministry of Health official. "they're designed to put children off their lunch." Whilst the scientific evidence behind this move isn't strong at the moment, time will prove that we were right said a government spokesman.

Other groups have called for a complete ban on the school packed lunch. This is a national emergency, if we can't have these packed lunches banned we need skilled staff to inspect school lunch boxes. Claims that one school was considering airport style security measures to scan lunch boxes at the school gate and to restrict juice containers to less than 100ml have been strongly denied.

In other news the Government has shelved plans for minimum pricing on alcohol and plain packaging for cigarettes saying they would rather concentrate on issues that will really impact on public health.