School dinners ‘led to fall in childhood obesity rates’

A new study has found that free school meals is a useful weapon in the fight against childhood obesity, having found that they ‘led to fall in childhood obesity rates’.

A quarter of UK children are overweight or obese when they start school aged four or five, a figure which rises to a third of children by the time they leave primary school at the age of 11.

The Institute for Social and Economic Research, based at the University of Essex, has tracked the impact of the free school meals policy, which provides a free midday meal for all four- to seven-year-olds in English primary schools. It concludes that free school meals make a valuable contribution to tackling Britain’s childhood obesity crisis.

The new healthy school meals cost £437 a year for each child and have hugely reduced the use of home-packed lunches for Britain’s youngest schoolchildren.

Researchers Birgitta Rabe and Angus Holford analysed body mass index (BMI) data for 16,000 children in primary schools to examine the impact of the nutritionally balanced, universally free meals, with their maximum 530 calories, that were introduced by the coalition government in 2014. They report ‘a steady decline of average BMI over the school year, totalling approximately seven per cent of a standard deviation, which suggests that the school environment has a beneficial influence on the energy balance of children’.

Of significance, the children’s BMI reverted to higher levels after school holidays of just one or two weeks, suggesting that children consume more calories at home or expend less energy through play and exercise than when they are at school.

Rabe said: “This intervention has a significant impact by reducing reception children’s obesity rates by seven per cent. It’s a small impact but it’s fast and it’s more effective than other school-based initiatives on children of this age, like running the daily mile or healthy eating messaging.”

The study is part of a larger Nuffield Foundation project tracing the impact of the policy of providing balanced school meals for all young children, on bodyweight outcomes, rates of absence as a result of ill health and attainment in school tests, with the full results due to be published early this summer.