M. Vogt, A. Olsen. In: Science Talks, Vol 11, 2024.

This study aimed at comparing effects of three nudging strategies on choice and intake of vegetables in children. A total of 82 children, 10–13 years old, participated during their habitual snack break at school. The study was a within-subject intervention using a snack buffet setting with ten different foods focusing on three vegetables. The experimental conditions were visual priming (green tablecloth), default option (pre-portioned vegetable containers), funny labelling (attractive vegetable names), and a control (neutral setting).

Mauer S, Torheim LE, Terragni L. Nutrients. 2022; 14(6).

School meals can have a key function in promoting children’s health. However, simply providing a free school meal is not a guarantee that pupils will eat the food. The purpose of this study was to explore factors influencing pupils’ participation in free school meal schemes in Oslo. The study has a qualitative research design, inspired by grounded theory. Data were collected through interviews with pupils, teachers, and parents, and participant observations in two schools participating in a pilot project funded by Oslo Municipality. Line-by-line coding, memo writing, and a constant comparative technique were used to analyze the data. One primary school and one lower-secondary school in different districts in Oslo that were implementing two different free school meal models took part in the study. In total, 39 pupils (5th–10th grade), 15 parents, and 12 school employees were included.

R. O’Connell et al. European Societies, 2022, Vol. 24(3).

In the context of successive global crises and rising household food insecurity in wealthy European countries there is renewed attention to the role of school meals as a welfare intervention. However, little is known about the extent to which school meals are a resource for low-income families living in different contexts. Drawing on a mixed methods study of food in low-income families in three European countries, this paper adopts a realist ontological stance and an embedded case study approach to address this question. The research concerns low-income families with children aged 11–15 years in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis in the UK, Portugal and Norway.

A.L. Benevenuto de Amorim et al. Nutrition, 2022, Vol. 9.

This cross-sectional study investigated households with children and adolescents living in Brazilian municipalities. A semistructured survey was administered to parents/guardians at a parent–teacher meeting to assess their socioeconomic conditions and access to food, using the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale to classify households as having food security or mild, moderate, or severe food insecurity. Parents and students were asked about the frequency of their consumption of school meals offered by the Brazilian School Food Program, which is one of the largest public policies in Brazil and offers free meals to all students in all public schools.

K.E. Illøkken et al. Food & Nutrition Research, 2021, Vol. 65.

There are no national arrangements for free school meals provision in Norway despite this being an important opportunity to improve children’s and adolescents’ nutritional status and ultimately their physical and cognitive development. During a one academic year (2014–2015), a group of Norwegian sixth graders were served a free healthy school meal in a project called ‘The School Meal Project’.

C.M. Mostert. Children and Youth Services Review, 2021, Vol. 126.

This paper applies two-stage least square (2SLS) model to quantify the impact of school feeding programme (SFP) on the education and health outcomes of South African children. The paper also estimates the spillover effects of SFP on parents' health spending. The results shows that the SFP has a significant effect, improving illness, school attendance, and academic achievement.

K. Rose, et al. Obesity Reviews. 2021, Vol. 22.

Understanding the social and environmental influencers of eating behaviours has the potential to improve health outcomes for young people. This review aims to explore the effectiveness of school nutrition interventions and the perceptions of young people experiencing a nutrition focused intervention or change in school food policy. A comprehensive systematic search identified studies published between 1 December 2007 to 20 February 2020. Twenty-seven studies were included: 22 quantitative studies of nutrition related outcomes and five qualitative studies reporting views and perceptions of young people (combined sample of 22,138 participants, mean ages 12–18 years).

D. Wang & W.W. Fawzi. Systematic Reviews, 2020, Vol. 9.

School feeding programs are beneficial for the physical, mental, and psychosocial development of school-age children and adolescents, particularly those in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). While school feeding programs are ubiquitous in LMICs, the specific benefits of school feeding programs are unclear. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate the impacts of school feeding programs on the educational and health outcomes of children and adolescents in LMICs.

Nikiema, Pouirkèta Rita. Journal of African Economies, vol. 28, no. 3, 2019.

Food for Education (FFE) programmes have been implemented in developing countries since the 1960s. This paper examines the impact of the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) school feeding programme on pupils’ attendance and girls’ enrolment rate within primary schools in northern Burkina Faso. Using difference-in-difference (DID) estimation with the data set on the Beoog Biiga programme, we find that take-home rations (THRs) increased school attendance for both boys and girls.

F.N. Vik, et al. BMC Public Health, 2019, Vol.19.

Children spend a considerable amount of time at school and consume at least one meal/day. This study aimed to investigate if a free, healthy school meal every day for one school year was associated with children’s intake of healthy foods at school, weight status and moderating effects of socio-economic status.

D. Wei et al. PloS One, 2019, Vol.14 (5).

While school-aged children in low- and middle-income countries remain highly exposed to acute infections, programs targeting this age group remain limited in scale and scope. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of a new and comprehensive primary school-based health intervention program on student-reported morbidity and anthropometric outcomes in Lusaka, Zambia.

P. Soares et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2019, Vol. 16(20).

The School Fruit and Vegetables Scheme (SFVS) implemented by the European Union in 2009/2010 aims to improve the diet of students and to support agricultural markets and environmental sustainability. The objective of this study was to identify the characteristics of the School Fruit and Vegetables Scheme implementation from 2009 to 2017 in Spain and its autonomous communities. A descriptive, longitudinal, observational, and retrospective study was carried out on the basis of document analysis of SFVS reports. We studied the average budget for Spain and its autonomous communities (AC), the number of students enrolled, the cost of the SFVS by student and by day, the duration of the SFVS, the quantity of fruits and vegetables (FV) per student and day (g), the variety of FV, the recommendation to include local, seasonal, and organic foods, and the educational activities (EA).

Julia Haß, Tanja Lischetzke and Monika Hartmann, Public Health Nutrition, Vol. 21, Issue 7, May 2018.

The present study aimed to examine the effectiveness of two different implementation forms of the EU School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme (SFVS).

Wijesinha-Bettoni, Ramani, et al. Food and Nutrition Bulletin, vol. 34, no. 1, 2013.

To reverse the trend of rising child obesity rates in many middle-income countries, recommendations include increasing fruit and vegetable consumption. Schools can positively impact children's eating behavior, and multicomponent interventions that include the curriculum, school food environments, and parental involvement are most effective.