#WhatsToEat
Children's food choices are shaped by the world around them. It's time for stronger rules on what food can be sold and advertised in schools.
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- ΠΠ°ΠΊΠ΅Π΄ΠΎΠ½ΡΠΊΠΈ
- Shqip
Children don’t choose what they eat in isolation. Their choices are shaped every day by what food is available, affordable and promoted in their environment.
#WhatsToEat is a campaign coβcreated with children, calling for healthier food environments and introducing stronger rules on the sale and marketing of ultraβprocessed food and sugary drinks in schools.
The campaign amplifies children’s voices and highlights a simple truth: healthy choices are hard to make when unhealthy options dominate.
Five teams, five actions
Teams from five schools in Veles, Kumanovo, Shtip and Skopje are taking action to create healthier food environments in and around their schools. From reclaiming advertising spaces and running social experiments to helping their peers understand the influence of food marketing, they are using evidence and their own ideas to start conversations about what needs to change.
Explore their stories below.
Why food environments matters
In North Macedonia, around 1 in 3 children aged 7–9 is living with overweight or obesity.
This is often presented simply as a question of individual behaviour or lack of physical activity. But more than 90 per cent of children are physically active for at least an hour every day.
At the same time, more than 70 per cent of children aged 6–9 eat fruit and vegetables less than once a day, while 1 in 3 drinks a sugary beverage every day.
A lack of movement is not the main problem. The real issue is the food environment.
When sugary drinks, snacks high in fat, sugar, and salt, and ultraβprocessed foods are cheaper, easier to find and more visible than fruit, vegetables, and freshly prepared food, unhealthy options become the default choice.
Unhealthy food is everywhere. Even in and around schools.
UNICEF with support from the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Health recently conducted an assessment on the nutritional environment in and around schools:
π Food and drinks are sold within school premises in 20% of schools; in all cases only unhealthy options were available.
π Nearly all schools (98%) allowed students to buy food from nearby shops during school hours, where unhealthy foods were widely available.
π In schools that offer meals (35%), salty or sweet snacks are the norm.
The problem is not children or their willpower. The problem is the environment surrounding them.
What needs to change?
Let’s create food environments in schools that protect children and support healthy choices.
While children benefit when they have more hours of physical activity, it is not enough. Creating healthier food environments has proven to be one of the most effective ways to improve children’s diet and is essential for them to grow, learn, and thrive. This means:
π make healthier food options available and the default choice, not the exception;
π introduce stronger rules on the sale of sugar-sweetened drinks and ultra processed food in schools; and
π limit children’s exposure to unhealthy food and drink marketing, especially within and around schools.
Protecting children from unhealthy food environments is not about restricting choice, it is about creating conditions where healthy choices are the easy, normal choice.
It’s time for stronger rules on what food can be sold and advertised in schools!
Take Action
Schools
π Make healthier choices available: Ensure students have access to fresh fruit, vegetables and free drinking water throughout the school day, and encourage vendors to offer healthier options at affordable prices.
π Make healthy choices the easy choices: Place fruit, water and other nutritious foods in the most visible and accessible locations in school canteens, vending machines and other points of sale.
βοΈ Reduce the availability of ultra-processed foods: Restrict or limit the sale and promotion of sugary drinks, salty and sweet snacks, and other ultra-processed products on school premises, while increasing healthier alternatives.
πβοΈ Engage parents and Parent Councils: Work with parents to discuss how to improve the food environment in the school, and support healthy eating habits both at school and at home. Parent Councils can help advocate for and support positive changes.
π Ask students what would work: Involve students in deciding which healthier options should be introduced and what would make healthier options more appealing.
π£ Create a school environment free from unhealthy food marketing: Limit advertising, sponsorship and promotion of foods and drinks high in sugar, salt and unhealthy fats on school premises and during school events and activities.
π« Build a culture of healthy eating: Integrate healthy eating messages into school activities, projects and events, and encourage conversations about nutrition, wellbeing and healthy school environments.
π― Support student-led action: Encourage students to take part in the #WhatsToEat campaign and social media challenges, identify issues in their school food environment, and propose solutions that can make a positive difference for their peers.
π€ Lead by example: Teachers, school staff and school leadership can promote healthy habits through their own choices and by supporting initiatives that help students learn about and adopt healthier lifestyles.
π Display campaign posters: Download and print the campaign posters to spark discussion among students and families.
π« Put it on the agenda: Ask the Parent Council to review the food and drinks sold, served and promoted at school. They can propose changes for the School Board to approve and implement.
π Make healthier choices available: Call for fresh fruit, vegetables and free drinking water to be available every day at affordable prices.
π Make healthier choices easier to see: Ask schools/canteens to place fruit, water and other nutritious options at eye level and in the most prominent positions at points of sale.
βοΈ Remove ultra-processed food from schools: Ask schools to reduce the availability and visibility of sugary drinks, salty and sweet snacks, and other ultra-processed products, while making healthier options easier to choose.
π£ Limit unhealthy food marketing: Ask schools to prevent the advertising, sponsorship and promotion of foods high in sugar, salt or unhealthy fats on school premises and at school events.
β Track progress: Agree on practical changes with the school, set a timeline and review whether healthier options have become more available, affordable and visible.
π£ Use your voice: Support and amplify the campaign by sharing messages, talking to other parents, and engaging your community.
π½οΈ Make healthier choices together: When possible, choose healthier foods and drinks at home and involve children in planning and preparing meals. Small, everyday choices can help build healthier habits as a family. Check these useful healthy eating tips for families!
π Strengthen policies and standards
Support and adopt policies that promote healthier food environments in and around schools, including measures to limit the sale and marketing of ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks.
π« Invest in healthier school environments
Work with schools to ensure access to safe drinking water, healthy food options and school environments that support children's health and well-being. If your municipality provides school uniforms or school supplies, consider also providing a lunch box or cooler bag to make it easier and more acceptable for children to bring healthy snacks and meals from home.
π« Limit unhealthy food marketing
Introduce and enforce measures that reduce children's exposure to advertising, sponsorship and promotion of foods and drinks high in sugar, salt and unhealthy fats in schools and public spaces used by children.
π Shape healthier food environments around schools
Encourage and support healthier food options in shops, kiosks and other food outlets near schools, making nutritious choices more accessible to children.
π€ Support school and community action
Work with schools, parents, students, health professionals and local communities to identify challenges and implement solutions that improve children's food environments.
π Support school champions: Identify and support schools willing to pilot stronger school food policies, document results and share practical examples with other schools.
π€³ Join the challenge: Share what food and drinks are being sold in and around your school and add your voice to #WhatsToEat.
π₯ͺ Choose healthier options: Bring nutritious snacks and meals from home when possible and encourage your friends to try healthier alternatives too.
π Share healthy ideas with your peers: Exchange simple, affordable recipes and snack ideas that are tasty, nutritious and easy to prepare.
π Become a food environment advocate: Use the campaign's ready-made materials to organize a classroom discussion or presentation (link) and help raise awareness among your classmates.
π« Speak up and get involved: Raise the issue with your school, student council or municipality. Share your ideas for healthier food options and suggest improvements to the school food environment.
π― Lead student action: Work with classmates to identify challenges in your school food environment and propose solutions that can be presented to school leaders.
π’ Spread the message: Like, share and repost campaign content. Encourage your friends, classmates and family members to join the conversation about healthier school food environments.
π‘ Show what's possible: Organize a healthy snack day, recipe exchange, tasting event or other student-led activity that makes healthy eating fun and accessible.
