The health, environmental, and cost implications of providing healthy and sustainable school meals for every child by 2030: a global modelling study

Summary

This global modelling study projects the health, environmental and economic implications of achieving universal school meal coverage by 2030. The analysis suggests substantial benefits: extending programmes could reduce undernourishment by a quarter in food-insecure populations, prevent over 1 million non-communicable disease cases annually if dietary habits persist into adulthood, and halve food-related environmental impacts when meals align with healthy and sustainable diet recommendations and food waste is minimised.

UK applicability

The UK already has established school meal programmes with near-universal coverage in primary schools, so absolute expansion potential is limited. However, the findings on meal composition optimisation for health and environmental outcomes, and the modelling framework for assessing cost-benefit across health and climate domains, are relevant to UK policy discussions on meal quality standards and sustainability targets.

Key measures

Undernourishment prevalence; non-communicable disease cases prevented annually; greenhouse gas emissions; land use; freshwater use; diet costs; social cost of carbon; health-related costs

Outcomes reported

The study modelled health, environmental and cost outcomes of extending school meal coverage to all children globally by 2030, examining changes in undernourishment, non-communicable disease prevention, greenhouse gas emissions, land use and freshwater consumption. It estimated dietary costs, climate-change damage costs and health-related costs across global, regional and national scales.

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