Improving New Zealand school children's diets requires a much wider focus than just targeting unhealthy foods available at schools, a University of Otago study suggests.

The study found that on non-schooldays, which account for about half of the year, children's average daily cholesterol intake is higher, their dietary fibre
lower, and they are twice as likely to eat hot chips.

The research, based on interviews with over two and a half thousand children aged between 5 and 14, also showed that similar proportions of children ate pies or sausage rolls on schooldays and non-schooldays.

Co-author Associate Professor Winsome Parnell says the study's findings highlight that it is naive to think removing unhealthier offerings from school tuck shops will provide a quick fix to children's diets.

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