THE news that healthy food will be on every pupils' plate in the next few years has been welcomed by schools across the region.

Education Secretary Ruth Kelly yesterday announced plans to outlaw vending machines selling chocolate, crisps and fizzy drinks and stop dinner ladies serving cheap burgers and hot dogs.

But John Dunford, general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association, said children's poor diets would not improve unless their parents provided better food at home.

"Pupils will continue to eat unhealthy packed lunches and visit the local chip shop," he added.

Ms Kelly later said that headteachers must lock their school gates to stop pupils heading down the chippy or burger bar.

"Lots of heads close their school gates at lunchtime so pupils can't leave their premises if they think they are just going down the road and buying fish and chips."

Defending the overall policy, she said: "We have for years allowed heads to take these decisions for themselves and we know what the result has been - it is completely unacceptable."

In the North-East and North Yorkshire, schools applauded Ms Kelly's actions to end the "scandal" of junk food diets - most saying they were already one step ahead.

Breakfast clubs, healthy eating lessons and after school activities have long sent out the message that youngsters should opt for healthy options.

And in the wake of chef Jamie Oliver's expose of the state of the nation's school meals, other schools have updated their meals.

Roselle Oberholzer, food and health manager for Public Health Group North-East, said: "Schools are not only working on school meals but have also done a lot of work around vending machines and packed lunches for pupils.

"It is a two-handed approach. To give healthy food provision but also to educate pupils about healthy food and encourage parents to provide healthy options at home."

Durham County Council was one of the first local education authorities in the country to pledge big changes in school meals after a six-month review of its existing fare.

It identified the need to cut pupils' fat, salt and sugar consumption and increase intakes of fruit, vegetables and other essential nutrients.

A council spokesman said: "By the time Jamie Oliver's School Dinners' television series called for major improvements to school meals earlier this year, the council and the Schools Forum - a representative body of headteachers and governors - were already finalising a contract with its supplier Scolarest that would mirror the new demands."

At the time of the review, he revealed, the question of vending machines was also considered and schools were recommended to ensure they offered healthy options with no "unhealthy" drinks or snacks. School tuck shops must also adopt the same approach.

Darlington Borough Council provides meals in most primary schools and one secondary school in the town, and is already promoting a healthy-eating policy.

A spokeswoman said: "We introduced healthy eating into schools a few years ago, and the school meals we provide do not include processed food. The emphasis is on fresh fruit and vegetables."

At Wolsingham School and Community College in Weardale, County Durham, staff are already seeing the benefits of students eating less junk food.

They removed vending machines selling sugary snacks and soft drinks some time ago, making water available all day.

Spokeswoman Margaret Nealis said: "Children cannot do their best educationally unless they are well nourished. It is up to the parents as well. The children need to be taught about nutrition at home as well as at school."

Staindrop Comprehensive School, in Teesdale, County Durham, has also done away with vending machines and is now preparing healthy school meals in-house.

In North Yorkshire, pupils can already tuck into some of the food that Jamie Oliver would approve of.

Chicken and pasta, lentil and vegetable pie, chicken fricassee with rice and gratin of broccoli and pork loin are among the dishes already on the menu.

A new fruit and vegetable contract means most vegetables are fresh and at least tenper cent - soon to rise to 25 per cent - are organic.

Future plans include practical skills training for catering staff, a new qualification in healthy eating and nutrition for cooks and the introduction of salad bars.

The general manager of the county's schools catering service, Keith Tilbrook, said: "We are doing our utmost to make our food additive and preservative free as possible."

A spokesman for Scolarest, the supplier of thousands of meals for County Durham's infants, primary and secondary schools said yesterday: "In the majority of our secondary schools we have replaced high-sugar drinks in vending machines with healthier alternatives, such as fruit and milk-based drinks."