Publications and resources

This research paper explores how the interruption of school-based health services during the COVID-19 pandemic, including deworming programs, highlighted the importance of these services. It discusses the acceleration of multisectoral approaches to combat neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), with school closures acting as a catalyst for global efforts in health and education recovery.

Bundy DAP, Schultz L, Antoninis M, Barry FBM, Burbano C, Croke K, Drake L, Gyapong J, Karutu C, Kihara J, Lo MM, Makkar P, Mwandawiro C, Ossipow SJ, Bento AR, Rollinson D, Shah H, Turner HC. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B; 2023.

School meal programmes create one of the world's most extensive social safety nets, with 83% of countries providing school meals to an estimated 418 million children daily. But this ubiquity conceals inequity; on average, 41% of the world's primary schoolchildren are fed, with coverage at about 61% in high-income countries but only 18% in low-income countries where food is needed most.2 When schools closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of millions of children worldwide lost access to school meals, and food insecurity rates increased by about 17% worldwide, particularly affecting children in lower-income countries. These school closures also highlighted the value of school meal programmes as an investment in students' physical, mental, and cognitive health, refocusing attention on the barriers to receiving school meals, especially stigma when free meals are only available to children from lower-income households.

Cohen, Juliana F W et al.
The Lancet, Volume 402, Issue 10405, 831 - 833

This working paper explores the history, design, and implementation of school meal programs in the U.S., including the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP). It highlights issues related to food security, nutritional norms, and federal policy, and it discusses challenges and best practices for improving school meal participation and quality.

Toossi S, Cohen J, Clift J, Turner L, Gosliner W, Schwartz M. School Meals Case Study: United States of America. London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine; 2023.

This policy brief advocates for debt relief conditioned on investments in human capital, particularly in school meal programs. It discusses the potential of converting debt into human capital investments to alleviate food insecurity, improve education, and promote sustainable development. The brief emphasizes the importance of prioritizing human capital investments in response to global crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict, and climate change.

This case study explores Canada's patchwork of school food programs, which are largely driven by provincial, territorial, and local initiatives without a national policy. It highlights food security, nutrition goals, and the challenges posed by insufficient funding, volunteer reliance, and inequitable access across the country.

Ruetz AT, Tasala K, McKenna M, Martin A, Michnik K, Edwards G, Engler-Stringer R, Everitt T, Maximova K, Mosby I, Seko Y, Woodruff S. School Meals Case Study: Canada. London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine; April 2023.

There is a significant—and growing—body of evidence that well-designed and effectively delivered school meal programs are a cost-effective and scalable means to build human capital, improve learning outcomes, and improve health and nutrition.

Drawing on existing literature, the most up-to-date data, and case studies from around the world, this report provides the first overview of the extent to which countries are supporting their children and adolescents through school health and nutrition policies and programmes. It encourages efforts to improve, scale up, sustain and monitor the progress of these programmes to address learners’ needs holistically, so that all children and adolescents can learn and thrive.

United Nations Children's Fund (UNESCO); World Food Programme

The School Meals Coalition (SMC) was launched at the United Nations (UN) Food Systems Summit in September 2021 under the leadership of Finland and France. More than 77 countries from the global North and South together with 87 partners (including UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, think tanks and academic partners) came together to improve and restore school meals programs as a transformational platform for food and education systems.