Scotland winger Simon Webster backed Midlothian primary schools to tackle healthy eating and fitness as over 175 pupils from six Midlothian primary schools were awarded certificates for taking part in a Healthy Eating and Fitness initiative, run jointly by Scottish Rugby and the Food Standards Agency Scotland (FSA). Children from Gorebridge, Lawfield, Mayfield, Moorfoot, Newtongrange and St Luke’s primary schools took part in the nutrition and health based initiative designed to raise awareness in schools of the benefits of good food hygiene and healthy eating while encouraging kids to be more active and improve their fitness.Scotland winger Simon Webster backed Midlothian primary schools to tackle healthy eating and fitness as over 175 pupils from six Midlothian primary schools were awarded certificates for taking part in a Healthy Eating and Fitness initiative, run jointly by Scottish Rugby and the Food Standards Agency Scotland (FSA). Children from Gorebridge, Lawfield, Mayfield, Moorfoot, Newtongrange and St Luke’s primary schools took part in the nutrition and health based initiative designed to raise awareness in schools of the benefits of good food hygiene and healthy eating while encouraging kids to be more active and improve their fitness. The pupils from Midlothian are among 5000 school children from 160 primary schools across Scotland who took part in this innovative initiative prior to the Easter break. Webster, the Edinburgh winger, understands the importance of healthy eating: As a professional athlete I know that food hygiene, exercise and healthy eating are three of the most important things we can teach kids today, it’s important that we teach it in a fun way to keep the kids interested and that’s what this scheme does. Midlothian Council Rugby development officer, Alex Edmonstone, said: This is a fantastic initiative to encourage young pupils to take part in exercise as well as learn about how to look after their bodies with lessons about healthy eating and rules of hygiene – important for any youngster, not just our future sports stars. Using sports coaches is a great way to motivate kids to learn – helping to reinforce what’s taught in the classroom while at the same time getting them active and exercising. Active schools coordinator for Midlothian, Joanne McIntosh, added: The FSA and Scottish Rugby project proved to be highly successful in the Newbattle primary schools. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed their rugby sessions which resulted in many schools carrying rugby on as part of their extra-curricular programme. This project allowed more children within the area to take part in physical activity and will hopefully encourage more children to continue with rugby outside of their school. Lydia Wilkie, Assistant Director of the Food Standards Agency Scotland, said: We’ve already had a fantastic response to this scheme in many primary schools across Scotland and we’ll be looking to develop this initiative further with Scottish Rugby to ensure that as many youngsters as possible have the opportunity to benefit from this excellent project. The pupils taking part completed a variety of food hygiene and healthy eating activities in the classroom using a specially developed Mission Book. These lessons were reinforced by Scottish Rugby’s club development staff with further learning and exercise using outdoor fun-based rugby activities. Along with their certificate, the children completing the course also received some goodies including a kit bag and fridge thermometer, while participating schools also received rugby kit.