If kids sit around eating junk and ballooning out of their jeans, is that their school’s problem? Is it the government’s problem?

Ontario Education Minister Kathleen Wynne says it’s everyone’s problem, and her government will pass the Healthy Food for Healthy Schools bill this spring. The bill has been through second reading and will get one final look from the standing committee on social policy before it becomes law.

“We’re trying to send a clear message that the nutrition guidelines in schools are going to be progressive, and we’re taking issues like childhood diabetes very seriously,” Wynne told The Catholic Register.

That message will be in the form of a law limiting trans fats in the cafeteria, pulling junk food out of vending machines and establishing minimal nutritional standards for all food students can buy at school. In its March 25 budget the Liberals backed up their school food law with $32 million over three years for the Student Nutrition Program.

Not every social problem has to be met with a law, said Wynne. But the education minister wanted school boards and parents to know just how seriously the government takes a health problem that some say could lead to the first Canadian generation in a century with shorter life expectancy than its parents.

“So many things that are societal issues fall at least in part to education, whether we’re talking about safe schools, or whether we’re talking about nutrition, or whether we’re talking about literacy rates,” said Wynne. “You could argue that all of those things start as the responsibility of the family, but the school is involved in nurturing kids and we’ve got to do our part.”

In fact, the parents may well be the problem, said Toronto Public Health dietician Sielen Raoufi. Raoufi and her team have been working with Toronto’s Catholic school board to update its policies, covering everything from standards for awarding cafeteria contracts to nutrition in the curriculum.

The problem goes beyond fries and gravy in the high school cafeterias and Mars Bars in vending machines. It includes the ingredients in packed lunches, lunch allowances that encourage kids to buy unhealthy foods in neighbourhood stores and parents who model unhealthy behaviours including skipping breakfast and eating junk in front of the television, Raoufi said.

“When we reach out to the schools we actually want to get through to the parents too,” said Raoufi.

In fact, even without a law to force schools to raise nutritional standards, things are getting better, Raoufi said.

“I don’t think schools have seen themselves in the business of promoting healthy eating, but that’s starting to change,” she said.

The Waterloo Catholic District School Board has nailed down its new food and nutrition policy for secondary schools before Wynne’s food bill becomes law. The new policy will be unveiled at St. Mary’s High School cafeteria April 3.

In Ottawa the Catholic school board first piloted its “Fuel to Xcell” program in 2004. Developed by the city’s department of public health, “Fuel to Xcell” colour codes the snacks and drinks for sale in vending machines. The green snacks have “high nutritional value.” The yellow items have “some nutritional value.” Everything else has “little or no nutritional value.”

Students who line up in Ottawa’s cafeterias have been faced with vegetables, fruit, low-fat milk, whole grain breads and other low-fat options since 2004. The “Eat Smart!” program is supposed to ensure students can choose meals that meet Canada’s Food Guide standards.

All the cafeteria reform in the world probably won’t stop some kids from slipping off school property to buy a Taquito for $2.50 at the 7-11, said Raoufi. A real change has to encompass changing kids’ attitudes and instilling a culture of food which goes deeper than brand-name consumerism embodied by McDonald’s and Burger King.

“Kids see themselves removed from food. They see food coming from a box or a machine, and they are kind of losing their sense of where food comes from,” she said. “That’s where the idea of gardens comes from, or even teaching cooking skills. We know a lot of students don’t have them, and they might move on to post-secondary and later life without having that skill.”

Raoufi insists the schools and Toronto public health aren’t trying to guilt-trip kids into policing their every bite. She wants kids to learn about food and enjoy eating.

“It’s a concept of moderation and balance that can be very difficult to teach to adults, let alone children,” she said.