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Free school meal allowances are not enough for lower-income pupils to buy healthy lunches at school, research shows.
The study, presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO), involved 42 pupils aged between 11 and 15 in seven schools in the UK.
Pupils were provided with a daily budget equivalent to their school’s Free School Meal (FSM) allowance, which was between £2.15 and £2.70. Students kept food diaries in which they recorded what they bought, the quality of the food and whether they felt full for the rest of the school day.
The researchers concluded that the allowance meant that students were mainly limited to meal deals, despite the fact that non-meal deal items may have been healthier but more expensive.
They also found that students felt pressured to make quick decisions that may not have been the healthiest because of the limited time they had during their break, leading them to “grab and go.”
In most schools, pupils did not have access to the school meal allowance before lunchtime, meaning they were often hungry during the morning break.
The survey also found a lack of fresh fruit, vegetables and salad in the schools, and that in four of the schools the students taking part in the survey did not buy fruit.
Dr Sundus Mahdi, from the University of York, said the findings showed that under the current FSM allowance, students were restricted to buying food deals that were not necessarily the healthiest option.
“What we’ve also found is that non-food items tend to be more expensive, but they can also be healthier, which is also very relevant in terms of what we’re seeing now with spending for life and inflation, which healthier food just tends to decrease to be more expensive,” Mahdi said.
“Unfortunately, the portion sizes given to some students were not enough to sustain them through the school day. In fact, there was one participant who said that during the week they actually brought a packed lunch with them on top of their free meals at school because it just didn’t fill them up.’
She said there was agreement among researchers and participants that the FSM allowance should be increased so that students can “buy more filling food and not go hungry throughout the school day”.
The researchers also called for the school meal standard to be amended so that schools include two servings of vegetables with each meal.
Separate research by the Food Foundation suggests it is 45% more expensive for parents to provide their children with a healthy packed lunch than a less nutritious one.
Of five supermarket chains, Aldi had the biggest difference (77%) between the price of a healthy and unhealthy packed lunch, at £10.08 and £5.68 respectively. Tesco had the smallest difference at 9%, with the healthy option costing £8.56 compared to the unhealthy alternative at £7.82.
Professor Maria Bryant, the lead researcher, said: “We know that 30% of primary school children’s daily food intake occurs during the school day, so this is a significant proportion of food intake. Poor food choices are often the result of a lack of funding and are often driven by contracts and procurement processes.’
Around 1.9 million children are entitled to free school meals in England. To be eligible, a household must be earning less than £7400 after taxes and before benefits.
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