Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department has issued to schools on the amount of time required to advise pupils on food and nutrition.

All schools are required to teach a balanced and broad curriculum that helps provide young people with knowledge, skills and understanding to prepare them to play a full and active part in society.

The National Curriculum requires maintained schools to teach children about food, nutrition, healthy eating and how to cook a repertoire of dishes as part of design and technology. The science curriculum requires pupils to be taught about the principles of a healthy and varied diet and its impact on the way our bodies work. The national curriculum can be used as a benchmark for Free Schools and Academies.

The Department does not prescribe how many hours schools should teach of any subject and believe that individual schools are best placed to decide this for themselves.