Getting Kids To Eat Oily Fish
A year after the Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014 came into force in all maintained schools, new academies and free schools, we look at ways of encouraging children to eat more oily fish.
Oily fish are those that have oil distributed through their body and include fresh, canned or frozen salmon, trout, sardines, pilchards, mackerel and herring. Providing protein, essential minerals such as iron and zinc, vitamins A and D, as well as omega-3 fatty acids, they are an important food group.
Reported to be essential for maintaining good health and preventing diseases in old-age, omega-3 is also important for brain development in young children.
The regulations state that oily fish must be on the menu once or more every three weeks. However with reportedly fewer than 8% of children eating oily fish – probably because of its stronger taste – school cooks might have their work cut out encouraging more children to try it – whatever the regulations might say!
So just how can you entice a 5 year old to eat 60g of oily fish or a teenager to eat 90g?
Unfortunately the most popular option of canned tuna doesn’t count as its omega-3 fatty acids are destroyed in the canning process (although fresh or frozen tuna is fine).
However there are some great ways to get oily fish not only onto the school menu, but into the tums of children.
One of the best is to combine a small amount of a fish such as salmon or mackerel with a white fish such as pollack. This can be made into a casserole or topped with mashed potato and served as a fish pie.
Salmon is a very versatile fish and can be used as a filling in rolls, wraps and pittas or blended with cream cheese to make a pate or dip to be served with raw vegetables. It can be “hidden” within a soup such as sweet potato, butternut squash and salmon, which served with a granary bread roll and low-fat spread provides a satisfying and healthy meal.
For something more substantial, salmon is great in fishcakes, colourful and tasty stir-fries, and in creamy pasta sauces, or simply served as a baked or poached fillet with potatoes and vegetables or salad.
In many of the schools that we supply, swapping fish fingers or fish and chips with salmon goujons once every 3 weeks has also proved a great way of encouraging children to eat oily fish. The vinegar in the goujons’ batter cuts through the fishy flavour and children really enjoy them.
To find out more about how Total Foodservice can help you get more oily fish onto your menus, please chat to our sales team – they’re here to help!
