Survey: Kids abandon Oliver's school meals

Jamie Oliver's healthy meals campaign appears to have turned children off school dinners, according to a survey.

The BBC News research questioned 59 councils across the country on the response to the national drive for standards.

Thirty-five authorities, or 59 per cent, said numbers eating dinners had gone down since the changes and 71 per cent blamed Oliver's healthy meals campaign.

However, a spokesman for the School Food Trust, set up to improve school food, insisted the results were just teething problems.

"We expected there to be a bit of a downturn," said chief executive Judy Hargadon. "Children are going to have to get used to eating more healthy food at school and it takes a while for them to get used to that.

"Some schools have however proved that it can be done and that children really enjoy eating healthy food, so our job is to help people get through this dip."