Services personnel were listed incorrectly in last Friday's Taste section. The correct number is 236-0224 (Exts. 385 and 259). In the recipes that accompanied the feature, meanwhile, a measurement for the making of "Oaties'' was listed as half a cup of baking soda. It should have read half a teaspoon.

Bermudian schoolchildren by the hundreds returned to their classrooms this week -- and so, too, did their poor nutrition habits in a significant number of cases.

In the current era of overworked parents, schedules that are formed around the household television set and junk food at every turn, it is easy, indeed, for the healthy breakfasts, lunches and snack foods that both adults and children are aware they should be eating to tumble by the wayside.

This reality, however, is one that anybody who has a school-aged child should vigorously be guarding against, says Government nutritionist Mrs. Betsy Baillie, who visited the newly-relocated St. George's Secondary School on Monday and was somewhat disconcerted to see the widespread presence of those very popular -- but nutritionally suspect -- pre-packaged "Lunchable'' products.

According to Mrs. Baillie, the correlation between healthy meals and a child's performance in school has been proven by numerous international studies, which frequently have shown that healthy schoolkids do better academically than their less well-nourished peers.

"People define health,'' she says, "as freedom from illness, but it involves much more than that. These days, health consists of total well-being -- intellectual, physical and mental. That's becoming the standard definition.'' Needless to say, a person's dietary intake -- especially that of a child -- is of tantamount importance in the quest for total well-being. Consequently, early childhood is not only a favourable time to instil some healthful eating habits but also the ideal time -- a fact, Mrs. Baillie says, that parents should try to remember the next time they're reaching for the potato chips in front of Junior.

"Children,'' she explains, "will learn through example, establishing many of their life-long eating habits at a very early age.

"Nowadays, however, people are increasingly choosing ease over nutrition and even financial savings. It is much less expensive, for example, to buy sandwich fixings and make a healthy lunchtime meal than it is to buy (ready-made) Lunchables or a hamburger and French fries in the secondary school tuck shops.'' So what other steps, then, can the present-day overworked parent take in the course of a day to ensure that a school-aged child is both physically and mentally nourished? For one thing, Mrs. Baillie says, parents can see to it that their children eat a well-balanced breakfast, which not only gives kids the energy they will need to get through their mornings effectively but also makes a teacher's life easier by improving, as many studies have shown, their overall dispositions.

"People,'' the Government nutritionist says, "don't realise what an impact hunger has on a child's personality. It's a highly significant factor.'' Two of the main reasons, Mrs. Baillie further told Taste, that children will skip breakfast -- the Health Ministry's latest study in this area determined that 33 percent of Bermudian teenagers rarely eat breakfast and approximately 10 percent never do -- have a direct relation to television: sleeping in because a student has stayed up late to watch it or is watching it in the morning instead of eating some breakfast (a meal, incidentally, that Mrs.

Baillie says doesn't have to be an elaborate sit-down affair but can often consist of leftovers like pizza, which contains all of the basic food groups).

"We encourage people,'' Mrs. Baillie says, "to get up earlier, and discourage parents from putting television sets in their children's bedrooms.

This, the practice of having a TV in almost every room, is becoming more and more common (in Bermuda), and really should be avoided. In terms of developing the right food and exercise habits, it's really important for parents to establish some limits and rules and expectations.'' Despite some discouraging study results, there are nonetheless a few signs in the area of eating habits and youth that can be seen as heartening, the Government nutritionist says, adding that she was gladdened recently to learn that more teenagers in particular were seeking out healthy lunches.

"They're tired of getting the greasy foods,'' Mrs. Baillie says of teens, who appear to be absorbing some of the positive media messages on fitness and good health in addition to those that advertise hamburgers and soda.

According to the latest food surveys, moreover, "the food that teenagers eat is determined by availability. If it's hamburgers that are available, that is what they'll eat. If it's something healthier, they will eat that too.

Increasingly, though, they appear to want the healthy stuff.'' With this in mind, Mrs. Baillie feels, it would be in everyone's best interests -- including those of the tuck shops that frequently operate independently of the secondary schools in which they are located -- to start selling the nutritious and low-fat foods (salads, yogurt, bottled water) that are good for teenagers and that teenagers seem to want.

In Bermuda, too, Government has a good opportunity in the current restructuring of the school system to exert a positive influence on the health of the Island's students, Mrs. Baillie, citing the decision to include North American-style cafeterias in schools from newly-relocated St. George's to the megaproject at Prospect, told Taste.

With regard to the health of primary school students, meanwhile, the question of health can often come down to the lunches that are packed for them by their parents, who may, admittedly, be hard-pressed to repeatedly put together a school meal that is both nutritious and appealing.

To that end, Nutrition Services offers the following suggestions: Jazz up a child's favourite sandwich fillings by putting them on raisin bread, bagels, lightly toasted English muffins or pita bread. As a fun alternative, toast two frozen waffles, let cool and fill with desired filling.

Ideas for new and different sandwich fillings might include such combinations as drained cottage cheese with pineapple and chopped nuts, sliced peaches, raisins or apple butter, mashed baked beans with grated onion, crunchy additions like bean sprouts, sunflower, sesame or pumpkin seeds and a sprinkle of curry powder in tuna, chicken or egg salad.

Instead of sandwiches, parents can substitute a pasta salad that incorporates macaroni and other fun-shaped pasta or pack vegetables like cherry tomatoes or zucchini slices with chunks of cheese, chicken or meat in a container or bag that the child can eat out of directly. Don't forget, incidentally, to pack a spoon.

In terms of sandwich alternatives, leftovers like chicken legs, meatloaf sandwiches, a cold slice of pizza or a serving of macaroni and cheese make for tasty selections. Calorie-reduced or fat-free products like lite mayonnaise, fat-reduced luncheon meats, water-packed tuna and fat-free or fat-reduced cheeses are a good choice for children whose fat intake needs reducing.

Some desserts, meanwhile, offer more nutrition than others. Oatmeal raisin cookies or fig bars, for example, contribute some vitamins and minerals, while ginger snaps or graham crackers make good low-fat selections. Fruit, moreover, is always a wise choice, although Mrs. Baillie cautions against the use of such high-calorie fruit "imposters'' as fruit snacks, fruit drinks and fruit punches. "You only need to try a `real' fruit snack,'' a Nutrition Services advisory says, "to discover it is basically candy. Therefore, they (fruit snacks) are not an appropriate snack for `fruit time' at school.'' In addition to providing these and other helpful tips on nutrition, Government Services personnel deliver nutrition talks at both primary and secondary schools and conduct staff development workshops for teachers in this area on their "staff development'' days.

Nutrition Services staff, Mrs. Baillie further told Taste, will also offer individual assessments and counselling to students who may be struggling with such food-related problems as obesity, anaemia, constipation and the like.

Anyone, consequently, who has questions about these issues or on health and nutrition in general are invited to call the Government nutritionist or her colleague Ms Mellonie Barnum at 236-0224 (Exts. 386 or 269).