20-30% of UK children eligible for free school meals choose the less healthy alternative: packed lunches. Past research has highlighted the superior nutritional quality of school meals compared to packed lunches. Switching more children to a school meal could help improve children's diets and ultimately decrease obesity rates. We co-funded this report by Veg Power to better understand the factors that drive families’ lunchtime decisions, and identify how professionals in the school food system can help increase school meal uptake.

We wanted to collaborate with Veg Power to deepen our understanding of:

• the factors that drive families decisions’ to eat a school meal or a packed lunch.
• how those in the school food system can address these barriers to increase uptake.

This is important because obesity rates amongst 10-11 year old's has risen by 30% since 2006. Switching from packed lunches to school meals could play a role in improving children's diets and ultimately decrease obesity rates.

As part of their report, Veg Power conducted a survey of 3,000 parents and carers and their primary school aged children from across the UK. The survey was conducted between March and April 2024 exploring four key areas:

1. Among primary school children, what is the average frequency of eating school meals and how does it vary by region and demographic?
2. Who in a household decides on whether a child eats school meals or not?
3. For both parents, carers and children, what are the main reasons for rejecting school meals?
4. What would be the most effective ways to drive the uptake of school meals amongst parents, carers and children?

The findings cement some of the lessons from Nesta’s past work in Wales. For example, the important role that peer influence plays and parents and pupils desire for more variation in school menus. They suggest these factors are also important across the UK, and have also brought to light important new insights. For example, uptake of school meals is lowest among middle-income families who are not eligible for free school meals, and still see cost as a major barrier. The survey led to other valuable understandings that help us overcome other obstacles preventing families from embracing free school meals.

Consumption of school meals

• Across primary school age groups, average consumption is 3.1 school meals per week.
  
• Consumption varies, with children in families where household income (HHI) is between £30,000 and £60,000 eating fewer school meals than other income groups.
  
• Free school meals are associated with increased uptake. Children entitled to free school meals who eat a school meal at least once a week, eat on average 4.2 meals per week against 3.2 meals per week if the parent has to pay.
  
• 16% of primary school children never eat a school meal. Even at age five, the figure is 11%. This increases to 25% by age 11.

Who decides on school meals?

• 39% of decisions are made jointly; 32% are made by the parent or carer; and 28% are made by the child. These percentages are not affected by whether meals are free or not.
  
• Children are considerably more likely to eat school meals, and eat them more often, when the parent or carer says they are the sole decision-maker.
  

What influences school meal decisions?

• When asked children what stopped them from having a school meal more often, 40% of children said they preferred a packed lunch. Other significant barriers included: a resistance to experimentation; how school meals ‘look’; a perceived lack of variety; and the fact that their friends don’t eat school meals.
  
• Parents and carers cited similar barriers. However, among those who had to pay, 23% referenced expense as a reason for their child not having more school meals. In families where HHI was £20,000-£30,000, this figure rose to 26%.

What would encourage greater frequency of consumption?

• 38% of parents and carers who currently pay said free school meals would persuade them and their child to eat more school meals.
  
• However, free school meals will not be sufficient in isolation. To drive greater adoption, parents and carers also want more variety (31%); more appetising presentation (27%); and better-quality ingredients (24%). There were also calls to make school meal occasions more social and more of an interactive ‘event’.