Healthy, sustainable school meals could cut undernourishment, reduce diet-related deaths and significantly lower environmental impacts, according to a new modelling study led by a UCL (University College London) researcher.

The study is part of a new collection of papers published in Lancet Planetary Health by members of the Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition – the independent research initiative of the School Meals Coalition. The papers find that well-designed school meal programmes could be a strategic investment in a healthier, more sustainable future.

Drawing together modelling, case studies and evidence from multiple disciplines, the six-paper collection demonstrates how planet-friendly school meal programmes can simultaneously improve child nutrition, reduce the prevalence of long-term diet-related illness, lessen climate and environmental pressures, and stimulate more resilient, agrobiodiverse food systems.

School meals: a strategic investment in human and planetary health

Global food systems are responsible for a third of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions while also contributing to rising malnutrition and diet-related diseases. At the same time, national school meal programmes feed 466 million children every day, representing 70% of the global public food system – a scale that provides governments unparalleled leverage.

A global modelling study, led by Professor Marco Springmann, modelling lead for the Research Consortium based at UCL’s Institute for Global Health, finds that providing a healthy, sustainable meal to every child by 2030 could:

• Reduce global undernourishment by 24%, with particularly strong impacts in food-insecure regions. This translates to 120 million fewer people in the world not getting enough vitamins, minerals, and energy from food
• Prevent over 1 million deaths every year from diet-related illnesses such as diabetes and coronary heart disease, assuming today’s schoolchildren retain, at least in part, preference for healthy foods into adulthood
• Halve food-related environmental impacts, including emissions and land use, when meals follow healthy, sustainable dietary patterns, for instance by increasing the proportion of vegetables and reducing meat and dairy products
• Generate major health and climate savings, significantly offsetting investment needs

Currently only one in five children in the world receive a school meal.

A framework for transforming food systems

To support governments to transition to planet-friendly school meal programmes, the collection sets out a conceptual framework for how school meals can drive systemic food systems transformation at scale, structured around four essential pillars:

• Healthy, diverse, culturally relevant school menus
• Clean, modern cooking methods
• Reduced food loss and waste
• Holistic food education that connects children, families and communities

Together, these pillars offer governments a pathway to improve child health and food literacy, strengthen agrobiodiversity, stimulate ecological local production and build climate-resilient food systems. Crucially, the framework emphasises that these pillars must be embedded in public procurement rules, nutrition standards and policy reforms to unlock their full potential and shift demand towards healthier and more sustainable food systems.

IMAGE CREDIT: Jane T D.