Food and nutrition must be taught as life skills, says academic

Good food education is ‘critical to tackling obesity and setting up healthy behaviours for life’

Australia’s primary school curriculum needs a “whole of school” approach to food education to deal with an alarming increase in child obesity, a Deakin University academic has said.

A study led by Penny Love, a lecturer with the institute for physical activity and nutrition, found that food and nutrition lessons were ad hoc and did not teach “food literacy” as a basic life skill.