ROCHESTER school meals company, Initial Catering, has won a national award for making healthy eating more fun for pupils.

Initial Catering is the UK's largest provider of school meals and has won a prize for best marketing campaign at this year's industry contest CATEYS. The judges praised the company on Medway City Estate for its innovative approach to making lunchtime more appealing and educating children about nutrition.

Part of the year-long project involved creating the Food Kids characters who appear on coolmeals.co.uk, the first healthy eating website of its kind. The cartoon characters teach children the importance of wholesome meals by explaining the different food types and how they fit into a balanced diet.

Jim Walker, chief executive of Initial Catering Services said: "This award proves that we do not just provide meals for schools but that we are committed to getting the healthy eating message across to youngsters. Good nutritional eating habits can form an important part to a healthy life style when children grow older."