ArticleBMJ open2022
Are free school meals failing families? Exploring the relationship between child food insecurity, child mental health and free school meal status during COVID-19: national cross-sectional surveys.
Article in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Food Improvement Goals in Schools (FIGS I): a qualitative evaluation of a whole-school approach to healthy food provision in primary schools.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Interventions to address individual/household food insecurity in Europe since COVID-19: a scoping review.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Impacts of Global School Feeding Programmes on Children's Health and Wellbeing Outcomes: A Scoping Review.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Key action areas for transforming the UK food system: insights from the Transforming UK Food Systems (TUKFS) Programme project portfolio.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Review
- Unraveling Future Trends in Free School Lunch and Nutrition: Global Insights for Indonesia from Bibliometric Approach and Critical Review.Nutrients · 2025Review
- School food programs and food insecurity at the REACH school network: an observational study.BMC public health · 2025Observational
- A scoping review of the existing evidence linking school food procurement contract type with school food provision.PloS one · 2025Article
- Food insecurity in children and young people in Scotland.The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society · 2024Review
- A Mixed Methods, Quasi-Experimental Evaluation Exploring the Impact of a Secondary School Universal Free School Meals Intervention Pilot.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Food insecurity, mental health and in-hospital mortality following the COVID-19 pandemic in a socially deprived UK coastal town.BMJ nutrition, prevention & health · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveFood insecurity is linked to poor health and well-being in children and rising prevalence rates have been exacerbated by COVID-19. Free school meals (FSM) are considered a critical tool for reducing the adverse effects of poverty but apply a highly restrictive eligibility criteria. This study examined levels of food security and FSM status to support decision-making regarding increasing the current eligibility criteria.
designTwo cross-sectional national surveys administered in August-September 2020 and January-February 2021 were used to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the food experiences of children and young people.
settingUK.
participants2166 children (aged 7-17 years) and parents/guardians.
main outcome measuresParticipant characteristics were described by food security and FSM status; estimated marginal means were calculated to obtain the probability of poor mental health, expressed as children reporting feeling stressed or worried in the past month, by food security status and FSM status.
resultsWe observed food insecurity among both children who did and did not receive of FSM: 23% of children not receiving FSM were food insecure. Children who were food insecure had a higher probability of poor mental health (31%, 95% CI: 23%, 40%) than children who were food secure (10%, 95% CI: 7%, 14%). Food insecure children receiving FSM had a higher probability of poor mental health (51%, 95% CI: 37%, 65%) than those who were food insecure and not receiving FSM (29%, 95% CI: 19%, 42%).
conclusionMany children experienced food insecurity regardless of whether they received FSM, suggesting the eligibility criteria needs to be widened to prevent overlooking those in need.
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