Download all Secondary Resources
You can download all the secondary resources here, or browse through them by theme below:
Other resources:
Early Years, Primary, Secondary, Recipes, Posters, Workplaces, Welsh resources
General resources
Here are the general resources for use throughout Healthy Eating Week.
Information and resources for each of the Week’s five themes can be found further down this page.
We are grateful to Lidl, Ocado, Tesco, and Waitrose & Partners for supporting Healthy Eating Week.
Introduction to Healthy Eating Week Presentation (Secondary)
Use this presentation to introduce the Healthy Eating Week themes to your pupils!
Healthy Eating Week 2024 for Secondary schools
The big message for this year’s Healthy Eating Week is 'Give it a go!'
Whether that means having one extra portion of fruit or vegetables a day, being a bit more active, experimenting with a new recipe or using up leftovers - Healthy Eating Week 2024 is all about giving it a go!
The daily themes are:
- Monday: Get at least 5 A DAY - Fresh, frozen, dried and canned all count!
- Tuesday: Stay hydrated - Have about 6-8 drinks a day. Tap water is a great choice.
- Wednesday: Move more - Find ways to be more active every day.
- Thursday: Focus on fibre - Have more wholegrain foods, fruit, vegetables, beans and lentils.
- Friday: Reduce food waste - Aim for the right amount when you shop, cook and eat.
Short on time? Below you will find a summary of each of the five Healthy Eating Week themes and a KEY ACTIVITY for each one.
For more detailed information about the themes and lots more resources, take a look at the Secondary Guide.
Get at least five a day
Fresh, frozen, dried and canned all count.
We are recommended to have at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day. Teenagers aged 11-18 years have less than three portions of their 5 A DAY.
Eating a variety of different coloured fruit and vegetables as part of meals and snacks provides us with a range of important nutrients. Diets high in fruit and vegetables are associated with a lower risk of diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and some cancers.
KEY ACTIVITY: Find the fruit and vegetables
Help young people become more familiar with the wide variety of fruit and vegetables available by using the Find the fruit and vegetable resource. Provide a colour copy of sheet showing the fruit and vegetables and use the questions provided to support discussion about the different fruit and vegetables.
Using the Create a super salad sheet for ideas, prepare a selection of salad ingredients. Invite the pupils to choose ingredients to create their own salad, or, why not set up a practical food activity so they can prepare the salad ingredients themselves? Remember to check for allergies, intolerances, and dietary requirements before running this activity.
For further Get at least 5 A DAY information and resources, see the Secondary Guide.
Stay hydrated
Have about 6-8 drinks a day. Tap water is a great choice.
Our bodies lose water throughout the day in urine and sweat as well as small amounts through breathing. If we do not drink enough fluids, we can become dehydrated. To stay hydrated we need fluid from foods and drinks.
We should have around 6-8 glasses or cups of fluid each day, and more if the weather is hot, or we are exercising, or being active.
Water is a great choice for your main drink because it keeps you hydrated without adding calories to your diet, or sugars that may damage teeth.
KEY ACTIVITY: Hydration station
Set up a hydration station using the Hydration station set up guide and Hydration station sign. Encourage young people to help themselves to drinks.
For further Stay hydrated information and resources, see the Secondary Guide.
Move more
Find more ways to be active every day.
Being active is beneficial because it can help to maintain energy balance (a healthy weight), improve heart health and strengthen muscles and bones. It can also improve sleep, relieve stress and lift mood.
Children and Young People (5 to 18 years) should engage in moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity for an average of at least 60 minutes per day across the week (for children or young people with disabilities, the guidance is 20 minutes of physical activity per day). This can include all forms of activity such as physical education, active travel, after-school activities, play and sports. They should also aim to minimise the amount of time spent being inactive (sedentary).
KEY ACTIVITY: Move more activity cards
Use the Move more activity cards to get pupils thinking about different ways to get active. Challenge them to make up their own games using the activity cards!
National School Sports Week
National School Sports Week is running from 17- 23 June 2024. Register your school to receive free equipment, resources, lesson plans and classroom activities. A great way to follow on from Healthy Eating Week!
Youth Sport Trust - 60 second challenges
Take a look at the Youth Sport Trust 60 second physical activity challenges – there are 26 to try! The challenges take a fun ‘compete against yourself’ approach to physical activity with a focus on resilience and perseverance.
Focus on fibre
Have more wholegrain foods, fruit and vegetables, beans, peas and lentils.
Most of us are not eating enough fibre. In the UK, young people of secondary school age are recommended to have 25g of fibre each day, but are currently only eating, on average, 16g a day. UK adults are recommended to have 30g of fibre each day but are currently only eating, on average, 19g a day.
Eating plenty of fibre as part of a healthy balanced diet helps to keep our digestive system healthy and is linked to a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and bowel cancer. Choosing fibre-rich foods may also help us to feel fuller for longer, which can help support weight management. Eating fibre-rich foods alongside drinking plenty of fluids and keeping physically active can help prevent constipation.
KEY ACTIVITY: Fibre cards
Use the Fibre cards to teach pupils about the amount of fibre they can find in different foods. Ask them to line up from highest to lowest with the fibre cards, or create other games, using the ideas in the Secondary Guide.
For further Focus on fibre information and resources, see the Secondary Guide.
Reduce food waste
Aim for the right amount when you shop, cook, and eat.
In the UK, households are responsible for 70% of UK food waste. According to Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the three most commonly wasted food are fresh potatoes, bread and milk.
So much goes into producing our food - water, energy, land, and transport. Reducing the amount of food we waste is therefore important to make diets more sustainable, helping us save money but also helping to save wasting the planets resources.
We can all make small changes to reduce our food waste!
KEY ACTIVITY: Food waste survey
Give pupils copies of the Food waste survey to complete at home. Ask them to report back about what they find and actions their family can take in the future.
Challenge your pupils to think about what they eat during the day and how they could reduce any food waste. They could create and display posters to share their ideas.
For further Reduce food waste information and resources, see the Secondary Guide.
