Do free school meal programmes improve children's learning and health?

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1. 1

   School-Based Interventions That Address Students' Unmet Material Needs: A Scoping Review.

   The Journal of school health (Sokol et al.)Published Sep 1, 2026Checked Oct 4, 2026

   “Researchers have evaluated these interventions for school performance, participation, and safety. Most studies evaluated the effects of providing food on school performance (n = 21) and participation (n = 19), with mixed findings. Several studies evaluated the effects of providing healthcare on school performance (n = 14) and participation (n = 10), with overall supportive findings. There was limited evidence on connecting families to resources (n = 4) or offering transportation (n = 2). Across all interventions, only a few studies (n = 7) evaluated effects on school safety.Implications for school health policy, practice, and equitySchool-based healthcare can benefit school performance and participation.ConclusionThe field has focused on the effects of providing food and healthcare on school participation and performance. We can gain a more comprehensive understanding of school-based strategies to address unmet material needs by (1) evaluating interventions beyond these two types, and (2) considering additional outcomes such as safety.”

2. 2

   Universal free school meals and Medicaid spending: evidence from linked education and claims data in Arkansas.

   Health affairs scholar (Sundell et al.)Published Aug 5, 2026Checked Oct 4, 2026

   “Whether these policies affect children's health care spending is unknown.MethodsUsing linked Arkansas education and Medicaid claims data (2013-2020) and a stacked difference-in-differences design across 4 UFM adoption cohorts, we examined changes in Medicaid spending among 131 851 continuously enrolled Medicaid children before and after school-level UFM adoption.ResultsThe aggregate effect across the 2 post-adoption years was not statistically significant (spending ratio 0.973; 95% CI 0.932-1.016). However, spending declined significantly in the second post-adoption year (spending ratio 0.937; 95% CI 0.889-0.987), a 6.3% reduction. Reductions were concentrated in inpatient and pharmacy spending for mental, behavioral, and neurodevelopmental disorders, alongside increased outpatient spending in these categories.ConclusionsUFM adoption was associated with a delayed but significant reduction in Medicaid spending, driven largely by shifts in mental and behavioral health care utilization. These findings suggest school nutrition policy may influence health care spending among publicly insured children.”

3. 3

   Does intervening to improve early academic adversity impact later mental health during adolescence? A population-based linked data modelling study in Wales.

   BMJ open (Stannard et al.)Published Aug 14, 2026Checked Oct 4, 2026

   “In fully adjusted models, higher academic adversity scores (across all levels) in year 6 were significantly associated with increased odds of anxiety for both boys and girls. For depression, higher adversity (across all levels) was associated with increased odds among girls, while highest adversity (2+) was associated with depression among boys. PAFs suggested that reducing adversity could lead to modest reductions in the reporting of anxiety and depression, with greater potential impact for boys. Hypothetical exposure to combined early-life interventions (Sure Start and free school meals) resulted in small absolute reductions in anxiety diagnoses (0.6% (11/1816)-1.6% (12/787) for boys; 0.3% (12/3986)-0.5% (11/1080) for girls) and a 0.4% (16/3636) reduction in the reporting of depression diagnoses for girls, with no measurable impact for boys.ConclusionInterventions providing support during childhood may have a modest impact on reducing anxiety in adolescence for boys, and both anxiety and depression for girls.”

4. 4

   Social programme receipt and child health, healthcare access and utilisation among low-income US households: a cross-sectional analysis of the National Survey for Child Health.

   BMJ paediatrics open (Taneja et al.)Published Sep 8, 2026Checked Oct 4, 2026

   “We aimed to examine associations between receipt of cash assistance, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, and free/reduced cost school meals with child health measures among children from low-income US households.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of data from the 2019 National Survey for Child Health. Households with incomes ResultsThe sample included 7279 children aged 0-17, representing 27 million children nationally. Among low-income households, 24.6% received none of the four programmes. Programme receipt was not associated with child health. Programme receipt was associated with frustrating healthcare access (OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.23 to 2.41) and increased emergency department utilisation (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.16 to 2.29), with no association with preventative care.ConclusionSocial programme receipt was associated with frustrating healthcare access and greater emergency care utilisation. Policy efforts to facilitate access for low-income families may improve child health outcomes.”

5. 5

   Midday Meal Scheme (Wikipedia)

   WikipediaPublished Sep 29, 2026Checked Oct 4, 2026

   “The Midday Meal Scheme, or PM-Poshan Shakti Nirman in Hindi, is a free school meal programme in India designed to enhance the nutritional status of school-age children nationwide. The programme supplies free lunches on working days for children in government primary and upper primary schools, government-aided anganwadis (pre-school), madrasas and maqtabs. Serving 120 million children in over 1.27 million schools and Education Guarantee Scheme centres, the Midday Meal Scheme is the largest of its kind in the world. In 1920, A. Subbarayalu Reddiar, the first Chief Minister of the Madras Presidency, introduced the mid-day meal scheme in a Corporation school in the Thousand Lights area. The initiative was based on the idea proposed by P. Theagaraya Chetty, who was serving as the President of the Justice Party at the time. The Midday Meal Scheme has been implemented in the Union Territory of Puducherry under the French Administration since 1930. In post-independent India, the Midday Meal Scheme was first launched in Tamil Nadu, pioneered by the former Chief Minister K. Kamaraj in the early 1960s.”