Crunch&Sip®

​Student with a tomato

​​​Developing healthy habits can help kids have better health an​d wellbeing throughout life. It can also help them do their best at school. Research suggests students who eat a healthy diet are more likely to:

  • ​concentrate better and retain more information
  • perform better academically
  • have better emotional, physical and social wellbeing.

However, many students are not eating nutritious meals each day or drinking enough water.

Crunch&Sip® helps primary schools do this by supporting them to set a time each day in class for students to eat vegetables or fruit and drink water.​​

​"​​Crunch&Sip® is having an impact on students’ learning and making a difference to children’s lunchboxes, which now often contain much healthier options."

​- Primary school teacher, NSW

How your school can get involved in Crunch&Sip

Your school can choose to have Crunch&Sip® whenever it best fits your class timetable. Some schools hold Crunch&Sip® at the same time across the whole school.

In other schools, teachers hold it when it suits their class schedule. Teachers can hold Crunch&Sip® time while students continue their work. Or they can stop work and hold Crunch&Sip® inside or outside the classroom. A dedicated local Health Promotion Officer (HPO) can help you put Crunch&Sip® in place at your school. 

Contact NSW Health’s Live Life Well @ School team on [email protected]​ to connect with your local Health Promotion Officer to get started.​​

​"​​It’s well worth the time it takes to have Crunch&Sip®, to improve students’ concentration for the remainder of the morning."

​- Primary school teacher, NSW

​Download the  Crunch&Sip® School Implementation Checklist to help guide you through to becoming a fully implementing Crunch&Sip® school!​

​Resources for schools promote Crunch&Sip® to families and your community

​ ​Your school can help families engage with Crunch&Sip® by sharing information about eating vegetables and fruit and drinking water.

This brochure explains how parents and carers can pack vegetables, fruit and water for their children to take part in Crunch&Sip®:

Encourage your students to eat more vegetables and fruit and drink water with our free resources. Use the Crunch&Sip® classroom poster to track class participation and achievement. You can use it with stickers or marker pens.

How to help all students have vegetables or fruit for Crunch&Sip® ​

Some students may not always bring vegetables or fruit for Crunch&Sip®. There are several ways to help students take part such as:​

  • ​place a reminder in the school newsletters, messages or app
  • provide vegetables and fruit for students who forget or can’t bring it in
  • offer free or low-cost fruit and vegetables at the canteen
  • partner with local stores to receive donated or discounted fresh produce (you can offer free advertising in newsletters) or ask for sponsors 
  • work with local farmers and markets to supply fruit and vegetables to the school
  • connect with food relief programs such as food banks and charities that provide fresh produce
  • grow fresh produce on-site for students to eat during Crunch&Sip®
  • encourage families to bring in an extra piece of fruit or vegetable to share with a friend
  • make Crunch&Sip® part of your school policy to help make it a normal part the school day. 

You can also find ideas and tips to help the whole class participate in Crunch&Sip®:

Current as at: Thursday 16 November 2023
Contact page owner: Centre for Population Health