Calls to expand healthy school food in response to escalating parent and teacher concerns

New data from children's charity Barnardo's has revealed the continuing struggles of parents to afford healthy food, as over a quarter of teachers say they are using their own money to feed children in school. 

Barnardo's has joined up with the School Food Review coalition urging the government to extend healthy school food to more children.

The coalition is taking its message to Parliament on Wednesday 12 March, the eve of International School Meals Day 2025, and launching a new Superpowers of School Food evidence pack in an event supported by high profile chefs including Tom Kerridge, Jamie Oliver and Thomasina Miers and TV star Michelle Collins.

Findings from the survey of 2,239 UK parents feature in a new Barnardo’s report Nourishing The Future in which nearly one in five parents (19%) say they buy unhealthy food for their children because they can’t afford healthier options, according to a new survey for Barnardo’s. And the majority (60%) of parents who had to buy unhealthy food for their children in the last year said they were worried about what they were feeding their children. 

The findings echo the Children's Food Campaign's 2024 parent survey in which three quarters of parents said it was getting harder, not easier, to feed children a healthy diet. 

Whilst the Government has just announced the first 754 schools piloting their new universal primary school breakfast club programme, the threshold for eligibility for free school meals remains stuck at just £7400 per annum income (after tax, before benefits), and has not been reformed since introduction in 2018.

Children's Food Campaign parent ambassador, Agnieska Stanczak, who will be speaking in Parliament, says:

"It’s great that the government has committed to introducing breakfast clubs for all primary school children. However, as both a parent and a school chef who runs the breakfast clubs, I know that many children struggle to get to school on time or sometimes skip breakfast. Breakfast clubs should not be seen as a substitute for lunch and they should be rolled out alongside expanding free school meals to all children at lunchtime. Lunch is just as important to keep children focused and fuelled for learning, with so many more benefits for children's health, wellbeing and future success."

The School Food Review’s new report The Superpowers of Free School Meals lays out evidence demonstrating the multiple benefits of expanding free school meals, starting with all children from families in receipt of Universal Credit or equivalent benefits, as a first step to universal free school meals. These include not only better health and wellbeing, but improved attendance, better pupil outcomes and wider social benefits including reduced inequalities.

The reports will both launch at a parliamentary event on Wednesday 12 March hosted by Blackpool South MP Chris Webb and the School Food Review – a coalition of organisations which includes The Food Foundation, School Food Matters, Chefs in Schools, Sustain's Children's Food Campaign, Bite Back and Barnardo’s as well as other charities, educational bodies, unions, academics and caterers - who are urging the government to extend access to free school meals. Other speakers at the event will include the deputy Mayor of London Joanne McCartney, who will talk about the positive impact of the London universal primary meals programme, and Manuela Perteghella MP, a member of the Education Select Committee, which has recently backed the auto-enrolment of eligible pupils for free school meals 'without delay'.

Sustain's member School Food Matters also commissioned polling of 10,000 teachers in England to find out the extent and impact of child hunger at school. One in five teachers (20%) reported that the number of children who are too hungry to learn has increased since the beginning of the academic year. A quarter of teachers (25%) reported using their own money to feed children. Overall, two-thirds (67%) of teachers said they supported introducing free school meals for all children.

Stephanie Slater, Founder and Chief Executive at School Food Matters said:

"As part of our research we spoke to headteachers in schools outside London who believe it's unfair that access to good nutrition is determined by a family's postcode or their pay packet."

Terri Cheung, Headteacher at Phoenix Primary School in Liverpool, who will be speaking in Parliament, said:

“You can tell when children haven’t had enough good nutrition by how lethargic they become in the classroom. Hunger makes it harder to concentrate, no matter how exciting the topic. If a child’s mind wanders during a key part of the lesson, it can affect their learning the next day, which can quickly snowball".

“Many of our families can’t afford school meals, so they provide packed lunches, which are often low in nutritional value. Meanwhile, our school cook prepares delicious, nutritious hot meals every day. Our children feel it’s unfair that children in other parts of England and across the UK can access universal free school meals while they can't.”

Deputy Mayor of London for Children and Families, Joanne McCartney said:

"I have consistently been blown away by the dedication of schools, local authorities and partners in delivering this programme. 

"For as long as Sadiq Khan is Mayor of London, universal free school meals in London’s state primary schools will continue, and I welcome the Government’s recent commitment to funding breakfast clubs, which is another significant step forward. I am proud that combined with our initiative, children in London’s state primary schools will be guaranteed a healthy breakfast and lunch every single day.   

"We are not only alleviating financial pressure on families, but also ensuring children can focus on what they should be focused on—learning, growing, playing and thriving. Better nutrition leads to improvements in attainment, attendance and overall wellbeing of our society."

Children's Food Campaign ambassador Mandy Mazliah said:

"I know from personal experience how important it is for my children to have access to nutritious meals at school. A well-balanced meal not only keeps them energised throughout the day but also helps them stay focused in the classroom. As a parent outside of London, I find it unfair that there is a postcode lottery of school meals. I want the government to invest in children’s healh and their futures by extending school food to all children no matter their location or age. It's also really important to me that the quality of food is considered. Any school food should be nutritious and well-balanced and shouldn't contain ultra processed foods or too much sugar. Now that my children are older it's also important to me that secondary schools aren't forgotten as there are often unhealthy food options available for teenagers and this needs to change."

Eastenders star and Barnardo’s ambassador Michelle Collins said:

“As the children of a single parent, my sister and I were both eligible for free school meals, but you had to join a separate queue which could be a humiliating experience for the kids. My mum worked three jobs to get the money together for us to not have to join that queue. Sadly, I think some of that stigma still exists today."

“I’m supporting this campaign for universal free school meals to ensure everyone is treated the same and that children are getting the healthy food they need with no questions asked.”

Barnardo’s chief executive Lynn Perry said:

"The food we eat as children has a huge impact. Sadly here in the UK, far too many children and young people are missing out on nutritious food - with huge knock-on effects for their health both now and in the future.

“We know that parents are making big sacrifices so their children have the best food they can afford. But with the price of basic items staying stubbornly high, healthy food is out of reach for too many families – with people living in poverty find it harder to buy, cook and eat good food.

“When Barnardo’s first started supporting children in East London back in 1866, many of the boys experienced poor health due to malnutrition, such as rickets. Today, with children’s diets and health worsening, it is more important than ever that this issue is addressed – starting with extending healthy free school meals to more children.”

Recommendations from Barnardo’s report to the governments in each UK nation include measures to increase the value of healthy shopping vouchers given to families with young children living on the lowest budgets, making school lunches free for all primary school children, with an immediate extension to all families receiving Universal Credit, strengthening the rules on the quality of meals that schools can provide and using the proceeds of any future taxes on sugar or salt to reduce food insecurity.

Anna Taylor, Executive Director of The Food Foundation said:

“Investing in feeding children well is like laying the foundation of a tall building. The strength of the entire building rests on it. If you skimp on the foundation, the entire structure becomes unstable, no matter how tall you want it to reach. Similarly, children are the foundation of our collective future. By ensuring they are well-nourished, we’re building a strong, resilient society that can rise to great heights. Skipping this step undermines the potential for everything that comes later.”