ReviewNutrients2017
Preschool and School Meal Policies: An Overview of What We Know about Regulation, Implementation, and Impact on Diet in the UK, Sweden, and Australia.
Review in Nutrients, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 54 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
54 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Global parent perspectives on school food service internationally: A mixed papers narrative review.Nutrition & dietetics : the journal of the Dietitians Association of Australia · 2026Pooled it
- Universal Subconstructs of a Healthy Diet for Children and Adolescents: A Critical Review.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2025Pooled it
- Enablers and barriers to implementation of and compliance with school-based healthy food and beverage policies: a systematic literature review and meta-synthesis.Public health nutrition · 2020Pooled it
- A systematic evaluation of digital nutrition promotion websites and apps for supporting parents to influence children's nutrition.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2020Pooled it
- Whole milk compared with reduced-fat milk and childhood overweight: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2020Pooled it
- Relationship Between Early Childhood Non-Parental Childcare and Diet, Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Sleep: A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Pooled it
- Effectiveness of a Parent-Based eHealth Intervention on Physical Activity, Dietary Behaviors, and Sleep in Preschoolers: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Trial
- Effectiveness of a Multi-Strategy Behavioral Intervention to Increase Vegetable Sales in Primary School Canteens: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Nutrients · 2022Trial
- An mHealth Intervention to Reduce the Packing of Discretionary Foods in Children's Lunch Boxes in Early Childhood Education and Care Services: Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Trial
- Possible effects of a free, healthy school meal on overall meal frequency among 10-12-year-olds in Norway: the School Meal Project.BMC research notes · 2019Trial
- Food consumption and nutrient intake in children on day-care days: results from the nationwide German KiESEL study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Free, healthy school lunches in New Zealand: A Value for Investment analysis.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Food policy, practice and provision in UK early childhood education and care: a scoping review.Public health nutrition · 2025Article
- Impacts of Global School Feeding Programmes on Children's Health and Wellbeing Outcomes: A Scoping Review.BMJ open · 2025Article
- The policy and practice of establishing healthy eating in preschool children in the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina: a qualitative study.BMC nutrition · 2025Article
- Concordance of Australian state and territory government guidelines for classifying the healthiness of foods in public settings.Public health nutrition · 2025Article
- On-site breakfast provision in early childhood education and care (ECEC) services in Australia: a multi-method investigation.European journal of nutrition · 2025Article
- Comparative analysis of school food policies in Australian jurisdictions: Insights for more effective policy action.Health promotion journal of Australia : official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals · 2025Review
- Getting school-provided meals to the table: an international multiple-case study of school food service.Health promotion international · 2024Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
School meals make significant contributions to healthy dietary behaviour, at a time when eating habits and food preferences are being formed. We provide an overview of the approaches to the provision, regulation, and improvement of preschool and primary school meals in the UK, Sweden, and Australia, three countries which vary in their degree of centralisation and regulation of school meals. Sweden has a centralised approach; all children receive free meals, and a pedagogical approach to meals is encouraged. Legislation demands that meals are nutritious. The UK system is varied and decentralised. Meals in most primary schools are regulated by food-based standards, but preschool-specific meal standards only exist in Scotland. The UK uses food groups (starchy foods, fruit and vegetables, proteins and dairy) in a healthy plate approach. Australian States and Territories all employ guidelines for school canteen food, predominantly using a "traffic light" approach outlining recommended and discouraged foods; however, most children bring food from home and are not covered by this guidance. The preschool standards state that food provided should be nutritious. We find that action is often lacking in the preschool years, and suggest that consistent policies, strong incentives for compliance, systematic monitoring, and an acknowledgement of the broader school eating environment (including home provided food) would be beneficial.
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Registered trials
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