Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

No happy returns as NZ school bans birthday cake
04 Apr 2008 01:08:25 GMT
 Source: Reuters
WELLINGTON, April 4 (Reuters) - Children in a New Zealand school have been banned from bringing cakes to share on their birthdays, due to new government healthy eating guidelines.

Pupils at Oteha Valley primary school north of Auckland have been told they are allowed to celebrate their birthdays, but the cake must stay at home, the New Zealand Herald newspaper reported.

The Ministry of Education has been on a fat-busting crusade, introducing sweeping guidelines against unhealthy food in New Zealand schools.

Oteha Valley has a large number of pupils born in September and October, and there can be up to four cakes a week in some classes, principal Megan Bowden told the Herald.

It had gotten to the point where parents thought they were required to provide a cake for their child's birthday.

The school has advised parents in a newsletter to stop sending cakes to school from the next term.

A Ministry of Education spokesman told the Herald the government guidelines only applied to food sold on the premises, and schools did not need to monitor food brought in from outside. (Reporting by Adrian Bathgate; Editing by Valerie Lee)


AlertNet news is provided by
Email this article       Send comments

Topics

•  Children

MORE >>

NGO latest

•  Tackling malnutrition in Malawi
Concern Worldwide - Ireland

•  Students in Afghanistan "make light" of their struggle for education
Concern Worldwide - USA

•  Colombia: Death threats drive thousands from their homes every year
ICRC - Switzerland

•  "Different, But Still Alike": ADRA Norway Completes First Musical
ADRA - International

•  At-risk teens learn perils of human trafficking
World Vision MEERO - Cyprus

MORE >>

Latest news

•  No happy returns as NZ school bans birthday cake

•  GLOBAL: More mothers and children on ARVs

•  U.N. sees progress inadequate on children and AIDS

•  Two million immunised in Cameroon after polio case

•  MOZAMBIQUE-SOUTH AFRICA: Scratching the surface of child trafficking

MORE >>

AlertNet news is provided by

Related articles

Breaking stories
No happy returns as NZ school bans birthday cake (1 minute ago)

GLOBAL: More mothers and children on ARVs (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
Colombia's displaced women sexually abused and forced into early motherhood (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
Tackling malnutrition in Malawi (1 minute ago)

Blogs
MEDIAWATCH: Somalia heads for crisis (1 minute ago)

Maps
Northern Region UNICEF Data, Ghana (1 minute ago)


Country information

Topics
Children
Facts & figures
New Zealand

Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-04-03T124330Z_01_KAB06_RTRIDSP_2_AFGHANISTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/KAB06.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-04-03T123032Z_01_KAB01_RTRIDSP_2_AFGHANISTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/KAB01.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-04-03T014142Z_01_TAI05_RTRIDSP_2_AGFLATION-MIDEAST_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/TAI05.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-04-02T195034Z_01_RJO01_RTRIDSP_2_BRAZIL-DENGUE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/RJO01.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-04-02T185233Z_01_RJO107_RTRIDSP_2_BRAZIL-DENGUE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/RJO107.htm

A German soldier from the NATO forces keeps watch as Afghan women and their children arrive to attend a free medical assistance camp by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Fri Apr 4 01:05:29 2008