Yesterday, as widely expected, a Government-commissioned report suggested banning sweets, soft drinks, too much fried food, salt and the "meat slurry" used to make processed foods, in an attempt to make school meals healthier and put nutrition back on children's plates.

These are replaced with at least two portions of fruit and vegetables, bread, chilled water and oily fish to boost fibre, protein and vitamin levels.

The more controversial suggestions laid out on the School Meals Review Panel include telling parents what to put in their children's packed lunches and banning children from leaving school at lunchtimes to visit the chip shop.

The panel was set up following a furore over the dire state of some school meals, kicked off by TV chef Jamie Oliver. The proposals will now be subject to consultation.

But last night, Dr Amelia Lake, of the human nutrition research centre at Newcastle University, welcomed the plans.

She said: "There is so much evidence that poor diets lead to physical and mental disadvantages.

"The fact they are thinking of including oily fish is a good thing, as it can improve mental performance."

She had a look at the suggested menus and said the healthier food would also improve concentration and behaviour - and help fend off future health problems.

"It is fantastic that the proposals are school-wide. We need to get all kids and their parents on board and give them ownership of this," she said.

In 1980, the Government abolished nutritional standards for school meals.

The report states that, in real terms, expenditure on school meals has dropped by 25 per cent in 25 years.

Its conclusion reads: "There is both a public and private responsibility to ensure that children are adequately fed. It is also in our collective self-interest. Poor dietary health costs money.

"The state of school meals in an indictment of more than two decades of public policy which has, in effect, stripped nutrients off plates."

Education Secretary Ruth Kelly said yesterday: "Government - working in partnership with schools, local authorities and parents - has a golden opportunity to make a real difference to a service which has suffered from decades of neglect.

"The scale of the challenge is huge, but we must act now to reverse the decline.

"The new minimum standards will be the bedrock of the drive towards better food in schools. I am keen to make real changes quickly."

There will be a 13-week consultation period.