Ultra-processed foods contribute almost two-thirds of calories in school lunches

Ultra-processed foods make up almost two-thirds of the calories in Britain’s school lunches, promoting poor health among children and increasing their risk of obesity, according to a study led by researchers at Imperial College London.

The analysis, published in the journal Nutrients, looked at the content of school lunches of more than 3,000 children between 2008-2017. It found that 64% of the calories in meals provided by the school come from ultra-processed foods, contributing to the consumption of high levels of processed foods and increasing the risk of childhood obesity.

Ultra-processed bread, snacks, puddings and sugary drinks were among the biggest contributors, and on the whole packed lunches contained more calories from highly processed foods, compared to school meals.

According to the researchers, publicly funded school meals – including free school meals and those that children buy in school – are a vital mechanism to deliver healthy food to children, especially those from families with low incomes. They argue that urgent policy changes are needed to cap the amount of processed foods school lunches contain and to increase access to free school meals, which could help boost the diets and health of Britain’s children.

Dr Jennie Parnham, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London and first author on the paper, said: ‘This is the first study to look at the extent of ultra-processed food content in school lunches for children of all ages. We need to view these findings as a call to action to invest in policies that can promote healthy eating. Owing to the current cost of living crisis, school meals should be a way for all children to access a low-cost nutritious meal. Yet, our research suggests this is not currently the case.’

Ultra-processed foods are heavily processed during their making, such as frozen pizzas, fizzy or milk-based drinks, mass-produced packaged bread and many ready meals. Previous research has linked regular consumption of them with obesity and increased long-term risk of health conditions like Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Dr Parnham added: ‘As food prices continue to rise in the UK and globally, accessing affordable, healthy food will become more challenging for many more people. School meals should offer children from all backgrounds access to a healthy and minimally processed meal, yet they are currently failing to meet their potential.’

The new study used data from 1,895 primary school children and 1,408 secondary school children, looking at food groups making up the total calorie count, as well as the proportion of total food intake of the meal (in grams).

Overall, around 75% of calories across all types of school lunches came from ultra-processed foods across all ages – with 82% of calories from UPFs in packed lunches, compared with 64% in school meals. In general, children from lower-income backgrounds were more likely to have higher levels of UPF on their plates (77% of calories) than children from higher-income backgrounds (71% of calories). One of the largest contributors, as a proportion of grams of food intake, came from ultra-processed drinks – such as fizzy drinks, fruit juice, or yogurt drinks. According to the team, one of the easiest and most cost-effective opportunities to improve the nutritional value of school lunches would be to swap these high calorie, ultra-processed drinks for water.

The study was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

Photo by Anton Murygin