Packed Lunches May Be Off The Menu At Schools By Siobhan Robbins, Sky News Reporter Packed lunches may be banned by some schools as the Government tries to get more children to eat school dinners. The Department for Education is pledging £16.1m to help make the meals they provide more popular. Head teachers will be responsible for improving take up. That could include some schools in England stopping pupils bringing in food from home, cutting the price of cooked dinners or making children stay on-site at break time. The changes follow a year-long review aimed at ensuring pupils eat healthier lunches. An estimated 20% of children are already obese when they leave primary school. Currently 57% either bring in packed lunches or buy something from outside school costing parents around £1bn a year. The Government said these meals often contain too many sweets, fizzy drinks and fatty foods and the money would be better spent on healthy school lunches. Announcing the plans, Education Secretary Michael Gove said: "What I'd like to see is a greater take up of school food. As a result of this; more children eating school lunches and fewer having packed lunches, more children being healthier and more energetic throughout the day, and the nation, as a result, benefiting from improved brain power. Cooking classes will also be compulsory for all under-14s. Critics are concerned this interferes with decisions which should be made by parents and could make extra work for already over-stretched teachers.