IF you thought TV chef Jamie Oliver had transformed school meals in this country, you would only be partly right.

Ask anyone involved with school meals and you will find that resistance to so-called healthy eating is alive and kicking - and not just from picky children, but also from parents who should know better.

But the tide is slowly turning and as young children start their school life, the battle to get them eating healthy food - at least while they are in school - begins.

And while parents in Bolton are not quite at the passing pies and chips through the school railings stage, some do still need help and guidance where good food for their children is concerned.

What Oliver's TV series did do was to alert the country to the junk food menus on offer in many British schools, highlighting the damage it was causing to the long-term health of children.

That said, in Bolton in particular and the North in general, the situation was never as dire as it was in some of the poorer London and Southern boroughs.

Although Bolton followed the national fashion to a certain degree and introduced turkey nuggets, formed fish shapes and other unhealthy mechanically recovered meats, kitchens and home cooking were never abandoned as they were in other parts of the country.

And according to Jane Barber, catering and training officer for the schools meals service in Bolton, moves were under way in the town to improve nutrition in schools before Oliver made his TV series.

She said: "We began trying to change the school menus in about 2001 and we were looking at removing the convenience lines.

"But it didn't happen as quickly as we would have liked because we didn't have the support we needed at the time.

"But at the same time, Bolton never closed its kitchens or lost its cooking skills and we continued to offer a range of homemade foods.

"In 2001, we introduced more home-baked food with a wider range of fresh vegetables as we followed the five-a-day scheme.

"Then along came Jamie Oliver and kickstarted the revolution in school meals - though Bolton was never as bad as some of the other boroughs," she said.

In 2003, school meal choices included dishes like fish feet, chicken smiles and golden tiddler - all formed shapes made cheaply.

An introductory colour-coded transit menu was introduced in 2006, featuring more healthy choices with most of the formed shape food options removed.

Now, when the new menus come into operation in Bolton next month, all school meals will be healthy and appealing.

In primary schools, children have a choice but all the options are now healthy, with an emphasis on good-quality meats, fresh, locally sourced vegetables with options of fruit or puddings. Water is also available and there are no fizzy drinks.

Dishes on offer will include homemade pizza, tuna pasta bake, roast beef with gravy, homemade lamb pie, braised steak or chicken balti and rice, plus vegetarian options.

Children are encouraged to follow the colour-coded menus where green indicates five portions of fruit and veg a day, blue represents one portion of carbohydrate, red is one portion of protein, while orange indicates foods which should only be eaten two or three times a week.

Now children in all 105 primary and 11 secondary schools in the borough eat 14,000 healthy meals every day served by about 600 staff. School meals cost £8.10 a week.

The School Meals Service in Bolton has taken a lead in school food improvement by establishing a dedicated unit for the staff training and development.

The Catering Development Unit in Fern Street, Deane, has been refurbished to provide training for all catering staff and also school support staff taking courses on nutrition and healthy eating.

Mrs Barber said: "We are looking forward to the changes. It is good for the staff to use the skills they have acquired over the years.

"We want to be even more innovative with the menus in the future and we need to get parents on board to help us promote healthy eating for their children at home as well as at school."