School Nutrition Standards

As it stands, only 19% of children aged 5-15 get their five-a-day. 95% of children exceed the recommended daily limit for added sugar. Up to 70% of calories in secondary schools come from ultra-processed foods. Today was the last day of the Government's school food standards consultation (the first overhaul since 2014!) and I think it bears a reminder of just how far we have to go in reforming our food system so that it supports health instead of working against it. I genuinely welcome the proposals in this consultation: Banning deep-fried food. Restricting high-sugar options. Mandatory portions of vegetables or salad with meals. A greater focus on wholegrains. These things will make a real difference to children who currently have no alternative to whatever is on the school plate. But the stakes are higher than a single meal. We know that the eating habits children form between 5 and 19 are among the most powerful predictors of their long-term health. UNICEF actually describes this period as a "second window of opportunity for growth, cognitive development, educational achievement, and establishing lifelong dietary habits.” Those habits will also become one of the most powerful predictors of their long-term health, as when kids spend years eating food engineered to be addictive, low in nutrients, and high in sugar and additives, their taste preferences are altered for life. So I will be watching closely when the Government response drops in September. Because whilst the standards cover school-provided meals, they don't yet touch what supermarkets choose to stock overall, or what a family can actually afford when healthy food costs so much more than the ultra-processed alternative. You can serve an amazingly healthy school lunch and still send a child home to an 80% UPF diet. The problem neither starts nor finishes at the school gate, and September’s response will confirm whether or not the Government is taking that into account.

How can we give every child the best start in life? By feeding them well. A new podcast from The Food Foundation explores research led by the University of Birmingham on what actually works in improving #schoolfood and children’s #nutrition. Great job Leticija Petrovic, Sarah Newton, Dr Katie Edwards and Sian Kidd 👏 My top takeaway? Stop obsessing over single silver bullets. The research looked at existing #publichealth interventions to understand what characteristics make food policies stick. Then it brought practitioners into the conversation: local authority leads from Birmingham City Council and Monmouthshire County Council, alongside academics and community practitioners. What seems to matter isn’t just what you do, but how you design and embed it. From what’s discussed, effective school food policies tend to: – be embedded in a wider food strategy, not bolted on – involve cross-department collaboration (public health, education, #procurement) – combine standards with support and education – build local ownership rather than relying on top-down instruction – treat children as citizens with agency, not just passive recipients of calories That last point is crucial. Creative #foodeducation programmes – like those delivered in Monmouthshire – show that when children understand food, they’re more likely to engage with it. #Cocreation with schools, parents and kids is key. For those of us working in #foodpolicy, #localgovernment or #schoolcatering, the message is clear: this isn’t about finding the next technical fix. It’s about governance, systems and culture. #Schoolfood is often framed as a cost pressure. It should instead be seen as infrastructure: for public health, local economies and long-term resilience. If we want better outcomes, we need better-designed policy ecosystems. The good news? Some places are already showing how.

BIG NEWS: High-sugar and deep-fried foods have been banned from school meals. 🙌 This is a really encouraging change and long overdue. Right now, around 1 in 3 children in England leave primary school overweight or obese, and ultra-processed foods make up over 60% of children’s calorie intake in the UK. These foods (high in sugar, low in fibre, and engineered for overconsumption) have become the norm and the harm goes far beyond weight: 🧠 Children with high UPF intake have ~25% higher odds of ADHD-like symptoms 🧒 Diets high in UPFs are linked to insulin resistance, hypertension, and fatty liver even in childhood 🍦 Children consume 2-3 × the recommended sugar intake These foods also displace the whole food-based nutrients that support brain development, stabilise energy and improve concentration. It's important to remember, however, that policy change alone doesn't automatically mean better nutrition for children. School food providers are already working within tight budgets, operational pressures, and low uptake. Many children simply don’t choose school meals with only around 60% choosing school meals instead of packed lunched (which rarely meet nutritional standards). Healthier meals must be appealing, accessible and properly funded, or else we risk making a policy change that has no effect on what children actually eat. Here's what needs to happen to enact real change: ⭐ Investing in better-quality, desirable, healthy food ⭐ Supporting schools and caterers with adequate funding ⭐ Embedding food education in the curriculum We need to make healthy food the default. If we get that right, the benefits go far beyond health. We improve education, address inequality and boost long-term productivity. 📩 I share insights like this monthly for anyone interested in evidence-based nutrition and health. #ChildNutrition #HealthySchools #ObesityPrevention

Every day, 30 million children sit down for a school lunch. What's on their tray is about to change, but the question is whether schools are ready. In January 2026, the U.S. released the most significant reset of federal nutrition policy in decades. The new 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines call for prioritizing high-quality protein, healthy fats, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, while avoiding highly processed foods and refined carbohydrates. On paper, that sounds like a win. In a school cafeteria? It's complicated. Here's the reality on the ground: more than 93% of school nutrition directors cited the need for more staff, culinary training, equipment, and infrastructure to reduce reliance on ultra-processed foods. And the numbers behind that statistic are even more striking: 79% expressed an "extreme need" for increased funds to expand scratch cooking. Why? Because of a structural problem that has nothing to do with willpower or intention. Many schools were built 40-plus years ago. They were built to reheat food, not to function as commercial cooking kitchens. You can't legislate scratch cooking into existence when the infrastructure to support it doesn't exist. As one expert from the Chef Ann Foundation put it plainly: "You cannot go from serving heavily processed, heat-and-serve items to scratch cooking immediately. It is a transition." This is the gap between policy ambition and operational reality, and it's one our industry understands deeply. The vision of the new guidelines is right. Children deserve whole, nutrient-dense meals. Reducing ultra-processed food in schools is one of the most impactful investments we can make in the long-term health of the next generation. The U.S. childhood obesity rate is nearly five times higher than some developed countries like France. The stakes are real. But vision without investment is just aspiration. School nutrition professionals are at the frontlines. Schools are the only place required to serve meals based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. They deserve the resources to match the responsibility. Three things need to happen, and need to happen together: 1️⃣ Funding must increase. More than 70% of school districts say current reimbursement rates are insufficient to cover the cost of school lunches. That math doesn't work for whole-food, scratch-prepared meals. 2️⃣ Infrastructure investment must follow. New guidelines without new kitchens, equipment, and culinary training are an unfunded mandate dressed up as health policy. 3️⃣ Industry must be part of the solution. Food manufacturers, distributors, and culinary professionals play a critical role in helping schools bridge the gap, by formulating cleaner products, supporting training, and making whole foods accessible at scale. The children eating those 30 million lunches every day didn't write the guidelines. They can't lobby Congress. They can't upgrade a kitchen. But we can. #Sustainability #FoodSystems #K12 #SchoolLunch

School Nutrition: Why the Cafeteria Is a Public Health Intervention A child who spends 180 days per year eating one or two meals at school is receiving a nutritional intervention — whether or not anyone has designed it as one. The quality of school food is one of the highest-leverage public health investments available. The evidence is consistent and striking: Students who eat nutritious school meals show improved cognitive performance, better concentration, reduced absenteeism, and improved behaviour — effects measurable within weeks of dietary improvement. The academic performance gap between well-nourished and poorly-nourished students is significant and persistent. School food shapes the palate. Children who are repeatedly exposed to vegetables, whole grains, and diverse flavours in a neutral, social context develop broader food acceptance than those who receive limited exposure. The school cafeteria is a taste education environment whether or not it is treated as one. School food is one of the most equitable nutritional interventions possible. It reaches children regardless of their home food environment, parental income, or family food literacy. For children experiencing food insecurity at home, school meals are frequently the most nutritionally complete food they receive. And yet in most countries, school food receives a fraction of the policy attention, funding, and cultural investment that other educational resources receive. We scrutinise textbooks and teacher training. We largely accept whatever is cheapest and most convenient in the cafeteria. The cafeteria is a classroom. It deserves to be treated as one. What was the school food like where you grew up? Do you think it influenced your relationship with food? #SchoolNutrition #NutriXQ #SchoolFood #PublicHealth #FoodPolicy