A school lunch in Washington, D.C., containing (clockwise from bottom left): hamburger, french fries, milk, cantaloupe, and roasted brussels sprouts.The principal of a Nauru secondary school inspecting school lunches (2012)
A school meal (whether it is a breakfast, lunch, or evening meal) is a meal provided to students and sometimes teachers at a school, typically in the middle or beginning of the school day. Countries around the world offer various kinds of school meal programs, and altogether, these are among the world's largest social safety nets.[1] An estimated 380 million school children around the world receive meals (or snacks or take-home rations) at their respective schools.[2] The extent of school feeding coverage varies from country to country, and as of 2020, the aggregate coverage rate worldwide is estimated to be 27% (and 40% specifically for primary school-age children).[3]
The objectives and benefits of school meals vary. In developing countries, school meals provide food security at times of crisis and help children to become healthy and productive adults, thus helping to break the cycle of poverty and hunger. They can address micronutrient deficiencies by serving diverse foods or including fortified foods.[4] They also serve as an incentive to send children to school and continue their education, and they can be leveraged specifically to reduce barriers to schooling for girls.[5] When school meals are targeted toward low-income or vulnerable children, they serve as a social safety net.[6] Especially in developed countries, school meals are structured to encourage healthy eating habits.[7] School meal programs can also be aimed at supporting the domestic or local agricultural sector.[8]
^World Bank. 2018. The State of Social Safety Nets 2018. Washington, DC: World Bank.
^"State of School Feeding Worldwide 2020 | World Food Programme". www.wfp.org. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
^Global Child Nutrition Foundation (GCNF). 2022. School Meal Programs Around the World: Results from the 2021 Global Survey of School Meal Programs. GCNF: Seattle.
^Olney, D.K., A. Gelli, N. Kumar, H. Alderman, A. Go, A. Raza, J. Owens, A. Grinspun, G. Bhalla, and O. Benammour. 2021.Nutrition-Sensitive Social Protection Programs within Food Systems. FAO and IFPRI: Washington, D.C.
^Gelli, Aulo (2015-05-20). "School Feeding and Girls' Enrollment: The Effects of Alternative Implementation Modalities in Low-Income Settings in Sub-Saharan Africa". Frontiers in Public Health. 3: 76. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2015.00076. ISSN 2296-2565. PMC 4440399. PMID 26052509.
^Alderman, H.; Bundy, D. (2012-08-01). "School Feeding Programs and Development: Are We Framing the Question Correctly?". The World Bank Research Observer. 27 (2): 204–221. doi:10.1093/wbro/lkr005. hdl:10986/17114. ISSN 0257-3032.
^Aliyar, Ruzky; Gelli, Aulo; Hamdani, Salha Hadjivayanis (2015-08-05). "A Review of Nutritional Guidelines and Menu Compositions for School Feeding Programs in 12 Countries". Frontiers in Public Health. 3: 148. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2015.00148. ISSN 2296-2565. PMC 4524891. PMID 26301209.
^Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Food Program (WFP). 2018. Home-Grown School Feeding Resource Framework: Technical Document. WFP: Rome.
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