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The Impact of the Universal Infant Free School Meal Policy on Dietary Quality in English and Scottish Primary School Children: Evaluation of a Natural Experiment.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Millett, Christopher 
Laverty, Anthony A 
von Hinke, Stephanie 

Abstract

The Universal Infant Free School Meal (UIFSM) policy was introduced in September 2014 in England and January 2015 in Scotland and offered all infant schoolchildren (ages 4-7 years) a free school lunch, regardless of income. Yet, impacts of UIFSM on dietary intakes or social inequalities are not known. A difference-in-differences study using the National Diet and Nutrition Survey assessed pooled pre-UIFSM (2010-2014) and post-UIFSM (2014-2017) dietary data. English or Scottish infant schoolchildren (4-7 years; n = 458) were the intervention group, with junior schoolchildren (8-11 years; n = 401) as controls. We found that implementation of UIFSM led to an increase in infant schoolchildren having a school meal. Impacts on key food groups such as fruit and vegetables or sweetened beverages were not seen. However, there was evidence that the UIFSM policy lowered consumption of foods associated with packed lunches, such as crisps, and some nutrients, such as total fat and sodium. Policy impacts differed by income group, with larger effect sizes in low-income children. In conclusion, evaluation of UIFSM demonstrated some improvements in dietary quality but the findings suggest school meal quality needs to be improved to fully realise the benefits of UIFSM.

Description

Keywords

children, nutrition, policy evaluation, school lunch, universal free school meals, Child, Child, Preschool, Diet, Food Services, Humans, Lunch, Nutritive Value, Policy, Schools

Journal Title

Nutrients

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2072-6643
2072-6643

Volume Title

14

Publisher

MDPI AG
Sponsorship
Medical Research Council (MR/K023187/1)
MRC (MC_UU_00006/7)
This study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Public Health Research (Grant Reference Number PD-SPH-2015). MW is funded by the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), a UKCRC Public Health Research Centre of Excellence Funding from the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Medical Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research, and the Wellcome Trust, under the auspices of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration, is gratefully acknowledged. MW is also supported by the Medical Research Council (grant numbers MC_UU_12015/1 and MC_UU_12015/6). FdV is partly funded by National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West) at University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of any of the above named funders or the Department of Health and Social Care