The Impact of the Universal Infant Free School Meal Policy on Dietary Quality in English and Scottish Primary School Children: Evaluation of a Natural Experiment

Jennie C. Parnham; Kiara Chang; Christopher Millett; Anthony A. Laverty; Stephanie von Hinke; Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard; Frank de Vocht; Martin White; Eszter P. Vamos

doi:10.3390/nu14081602

The Impact of the Universal Infant Free School Meal Policy on Dietary Quality in English and Scottish Primary School Children: Evaluation of a Natural Experiment

Jennie C. Parnham^*, Kiara Chang, Christopher Millett, Anthony A. Laverty, Stephanie von Hinke, Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard, Frank de Vocht, Martin White, Eszter P. Vamos

^*Corresponding author for this work

Applied Economics

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Abstract

The Universal Infant Free School Meal (UIFSM) policy was introduced in September 2014 in England and January 2015 in Scotland and offered all infant schoolchildren (ages 4–7 years) a free school lunch, regardless of income. Yet, impacts of UIFSM on dietary intakes or social inequalities are not known. A difference-in-differences study using the National Diet and Nutrition Survey assessed pooled pre-UIFSM (2010–2014) and post-UIFSM (2014–2017) dietary data. English or Scottish infant schoolchildren (4–7 years; n = 458) were the intervention group, with junior schoolchildren (8–11 years; n = 401) as controls. We found that implementation of UIFSM led to an increase in infant schoolchildren having a school meal. Impacts on key food groups such as fruit and vegetables or sweetened beverages were not seen. However, there was evidence that the UIFSM policy lowered consumption of foods associated with packed lunches, such as crisps, and some nutrients, such as total fat and sodium. Policy impacts differed by income group, with larger effect sizes in low-income children. In conclusion, evaluation of UIFSM demonstrated some improvements in dietary quality but the findings suggest school meal quality needs to be improved to fully realise the benefits of UIFSM.

Original language	English
Article number	1602
Journal	Nutrients
Volume	14
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14081602
Publication status	Published - 12 Apr 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding: This study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Public Health Research (Grant Reference Number PD-SPH-2015). MW is supported by the Medical Research Council (grant number MC/UU/00006/7). FdV is partly funded by National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West) at University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of any of the above named funders or the Department of Health and Social Care.

Publisher Copyright:© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

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10.3390/nu14081602

nutrients-14-01602-v2Licence: CC BY

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Parnham, J. C., Chang, K., Millett, C., Laverty, A. A., von Hinke, S., Pearson-Stuttard, J., de Vocht, F., White, M., & Vamos, E. P. (2022). The Impact of the Universal Infant Free School Meal Policy on Dietary Quality in English and Scottish Primary School Children: Evaluation of a Natural Experiment. Nutrients, 14(8), Article 1602. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14081602

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title = "The Impact of the Universal Infant Free School Meal Policy on Dietary Quality in English and Scottish Primary School Children: Evaluation of a Natural Experiment",

abstract = "The Universal Infant Free School Meal (UIFSM) policy was introduced in September 2014 in England and January 2015 in Scotland and offered all infant schoolchildren (ages 4–7 years) a free school lunch, regardless of income. Yet, impacts of UIFSM on dietary intakes or social inequalities are not known. A difference-in-differences study using the National Diet and Nutrition Survey assessed pooled pre-UIFSM (2010–2014) and post-UIFSM (2014–2017) dietary data. English or Scottish infant schoolchildren (4–7 years; n = 458) were the intervention group, with junior schoolchildren (8–11 years; n = 401) as controls. We found that implementation of UIFSM led to an increase in infant schoolchildren having a school meal. Impacts on key food groups such as fruit and vegetables or sweetened beverages were not seen. However, there was evidence that the UIFSM policy lowered consumption of foods associated with packed lunches, such as crisps, and some nutrients, such as total fat and sodium. Policy impacts differed by income group, with larger effect sizes in low-income children. In conclusion, evaluation of UIFSM demonstrated some improvements in dietary quality but the findings suggest school meal quality needs to be improved to fully realise the benefits of UIFSM.",

author = "Parnham, {Jennie C.} and Kiara Chang and Christopher Millett and Laverty, {Anthony A.} and {von Hinke}, Stephanie and Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard and {de Vocht}, Frank and Martin White and Vamos, {Eszter P.}",

note = "Funding: This study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Public Health Research (Grant Reference Number PD-SPH-2015). MW is supported by the Medical Research Council (grant number MC/UU/00006/7). FdV is partly funded by National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West) at University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of any of the above named funders or the Department of Health and Social Care. Publisher Copyright:{\textcopyright} 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",

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N2 - The Universal Infant Free School Meal (UIFSM) policy was introduced in September 2014 in England and January 2015 in Scotland and offered all infant schoolchildren (ages 4–7 years) a free school lunch, regardless of income. Yet, impacts of UIFSM on dietary intakes or social inequalities are not known. A difference-in-differences study using the National Diet and Nutrition Survey assessed pooled pre-UIFSM (2010–2014) and post-UIFSM (2014–2017) dietary data. English or Scottish infant schoolchildren (4–7 years; n = 458) were the intervention group, with junior schoolchildren (8–11 years; n = 401) as controls. We found that implementation of UIFSM led to an increase in infant schoolchildren having a school meal. Impacts on key food groups such as fruit and vegetables or sweetened beverages were not seen. However, there was evidence that the UIFSM policy lowered consumption of foods associated with packed lunches, such as crisps, and some nutrients, such as total fat and sodium. Policy impacts differed by income group, with larger effect sizes in low-income children. In conclusion, evaluation of UIFSM demonstrated some improvements in dietary quality but the findings suggest school meal quality needs to be improved to fully realise the benefits of UIFSM.

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The Impact of the Universal Infant Free School Meal Policy on Dietary Quality in English and Scottish Primary School Children: Evaluation of a Natural Experiment

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