Story from The Australian Online

THE axing of nutrition programs in schools in remote Aboriginal communities has led to heavy criticism of the West Australian government and the prediction by one principal that school attendance will drop.

The state Health Department was unable to reveal yesterday how many schools were set to lose their nutrition programs, but a health official has told one affected school that no annual contracts funded under the four-year Australian Better Health Initiative program will be renewed in this financial year.

School nutrition programs are seen as critical to school attendance in many remote Aboriginal communities.

The axing of the programs is part of a larger series of cuts by the West Australian government to preventive health programs funded under the Australian Better Health Initiative.

Many remote schools in the Northern Territory have their nutrition programs funded under the federal intervention into remote Aboriginal communities, but the intervention does not extend to Western Australia.

The principal of one of the schools affected by the funding cut has described the West Australian Health Department's decision to discontinue its nutrition program as irresponsible.

Parnngurr Community School, 360km from the mining town of Newman in the East Pilbara desert region, has had a 20 per cent increase in school attendance since its nutrition and physical activity program began.

Under the $33,000-a-year program, funded jointly by the federal and state governments, students receive breakfast and lunch at school, and play football and softball before and after school.

Parnngurr Community School principal Dan Lynch said the program was of critical importance to the future of the community, and helped prevent the onset of chronic disease.

"The pattern of cutting school at recess or lunchtime has disappeared," Mr Lynch said. "We have seen a huge improvement in our students' concentration and learning outcomes at school."

Mr Lynch said he expected attendance levels to drop significantly if the program were discontinued. "Once again the kids will cut school, they will go home at lunch and won't come back," he said.

Mr Lynch said the West Australian government had asked for a review of the program, but did not take the time to consider the good results the program had achieved before it made a decision to discontinue funding.

Linda Waters, the state health official in charge of Western Australia's Indigenous Healthy Lifestyle Project, told Mr Lynch in an email that funding cuts to preventive health programs had been widespread.

"Parnngurr school was not the only school nutrition program to be affected," Ms Waters wrote.

"Unfortunately, all annual contracts funded under ABHI have not been renewed.

"The only services continuing are those that are contracted until June 2010."