A coalition of the UK’s leading health experts is calling on the government to roll out universal free school meals to tackle food poverty and poor nutrition amongst children and young people.
Health leaders joined cross-party politicians today to present the details of a new report which has been shared exclusively with ITV News. ‘The Health of the Next Generation – Good Food for Children’ looks at the benefits of expanding access to three schemes designed to improve childhood health and wellbeing: The Free School Meal Programme, the National School Breakfast Programme and the Healthy Start Voucher scheme.
The report has been led by the Faculty of Public Health, with input from a number of other organisations including The Royal Society of Medicine and The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
Its key proposal is for school meals to be made free for all of England's primary and secondary school pupils.
The government says it needs to strike a balance - ensuring school meals are available to those in need, while remaining affordable and deliverable.
Professor Kevin Fenton, President of the Faculty of Public Health said: “As a broad coalition of public health and medical professionals we are deeply concerned about the long-term health impacts facing our nation’s children as vulnerable families across the UK struggle to access nutritious food … We face a critical turning point for the health of our next generation – we must take action now.”
