PARENTS must take responsibility for making sure their children eat healthy food, school inspectors said today.

Many secondary schools had poor canteen facilities that resembled fast food outlets while some food cooked off-site was lukewarm when served to children, Ofsted said.

In a series of reports on school food, the watchdog also said parents' attitudes could undermine the healthy eating message pupils learned in class.

It highlighted one case where a girl in Year 9 feared her father would brand the healthy stir-fry she had cooked at school "rubbish" that should be "given to the dog".