Canteens

Make a difference to your students’ health by filling the menu with calcium rich dairy foods today!

The Dairy Kitchen has created a new Discover Dairy Canteen Recipe book with a wide range of tried and tested recipes, sandwich ideas and snacks. They are all quick, simple and delicious! Not only do we have a new recipe book, we also have a new selection of posters available for the school canteen.  

Order your FREE Discover Dairy Canteen Recipe Book and posters here.

As a member of the school community, and a canteen manager, you probably know that 3 serves of dairy every day, including milk, cheese and yogurt gives growing children the calcium they need for healthy bones. Dairy foods are not only a rich source of calcium but they are packed full of nine other essential nutrients that are important for healthy blood, nervous and immune systems, eyesight, muscle and nerve function. Not to forget healthy skin, energy levels and growth and repair in all parts of the body.

You may not have heard the findings from the latest Australian National Children’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey. It revealed the majority of Australian children do not consume enough calcium, potentially putting them at risk of poor bone health. As you can see in the growth chart below, 9 – 16 year olds are most at risk, particularly teenage girls.¹

Canteen staff are in an ideal position to help address this issue and the canteen provides the perfect environment to encourage students to choose dairy as a healthy snack and lunch choice. Including dairy on the canteen menu will not only help students get their 3 serves of dairy every day, it will also help them establish healthy eating habits they can carry forward to teenage years and adulthood.

¹CSIRO 2007 Australian National Children’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey: Main findings, Canberra, 2008
Note: One serve of dairy is equivalent to a glass of milk (250ml), 2 slices of cheese (40g) or a small tub of yogurt (200g)

For further information about Dairy Australia’s canteen resources, please email canteens@dairyaustralia.com.au.