Nourishing futures: The power of school meals
Child malnutrition is evolving in complex ways, with children facing rising obesity rates, persistent under-nutrition, and vital nutrient deficiencies; affecting their physical and cognitive development, as well as possibly increasing the risk of developing future NCDs such as diabetes. This International School Meals Day, we highlight how nutritious school meals, practical education, and supportive food environments can help children build healthier habits and futures.
12 March 2026 Anna Thabuis
For the first time ever, child obesity levels have surpassed under-weight rates, with 51% of the children over five years of age is predicted to develop obesity or be overweight by 2035.
Malnutrition is not only about having too much or too little food, but also about lacking important nutrients. Often, these three aspects of malnutrition coexist: one in five children globally are overweight, many living with obesity, while, paradoxically, 9.2% children aged five to nineteen is considered underweight. Behind these numbers are often the same root causes: poverty, limited healthy nutrition in pregnancy, lack of access to nutritious foods, and food systems that make healthy eating difficult.
International School Meals Day is an opportunity to reflect on successful strategies to address childhood malnutrition, prevent diabetes, and build healthier futures.
More than a plate
Access to school meals has long been used as a means for development. Across the globe, governments are increasingly prioritising school health and nutrition, recognising that investing in school meal programmes is a wise step towards securing children’s futures, and this commitment is clear: a record 466 million children have been reached worldwide.
A nutritious meal can be the difference between distraction and focus, absenteeism, and attendance. This is especially relevant for girls, as the provision of daily, healthy meals at school support higher academic performances and serve as a strong incentive for continued enrolment, notably during secondary education when dropout rates are higher. Over time, this can help break the cycle of poverty, as those who spend more years in school earn more as adults and are more productive and help promote gender equality.
School meals can play a significant role in promoting health. These initiatives do more than just provide calories; school meals are an opportunity to address malnutrition by widening the lens beyond undernutrition.
Although the programmes cannot guarantee healthy meals outside the school grounds, School meals provide essential micro and macronutrients that help children grow and stay healthy.
While the first 1,000 days of life are critical for preventing stunting; school meal programmes can still play a vital role. For children aged five to nine, poor diets raise the risks of being underweight as well as being overweight, developing anaemia, and falling ill. The nutrition and health education received by school children lay the foundation for the adults they will become.
‘School meals could be one of the overlooked tools to address all three forms of malnutrition and reduce NCD risks,’ reflects Elsa Morandat, WDF Head of Policy and Programme.
Where healthy habits take root
Schools are places where healthy habits can grow, inside and outside of the gates. Our projects bring health and nutrition education into schools, helping children learn to make good choices for their wellbeing. When teachers, students, and staff work together, school meal programmes can help create a school environment where healthy habits flourish.
Classroom learning can change a whole school community. A new national curriculum in Cameroon, developed with the Ministries of Health and Education, shows how systemic change can start in classrooms. Through WDF programmes, teachers are trained to teach this curriculum and encourage healthy habits in schools. Over time, using these materials and methods aims to help students across the country eat better and be more active.
Engaging the whole school allows for change to ripple. In Mexico, teachers lead by example. After receiving training through a WDF supported project, Viridiana Cruz Contreras, a teacher, began taking charge of her own health. She started having a more regular schedule for meals, buying more fruits and vegetables, bringing healthy meals to school, and shifting to drinking more water rather than soda. Over time, she saw her students’ behaviours change. ‘They saw that if I could leave all those junk foods, they could do it too,’ she shares.
In Nepal, children learn by doing: growing vegetables, cooking meals, and understanding where their food comes from. These hands-on lessons turn nutrition into a lived experience, not just a subject. Teachers trained in health promotion now provide health education, integrate physical activity into the curriculum, and run nutritious cooking classes for pupils and their parents. Fresh vegetables harvested from the gardens are used in these classes, and students take an active role in maintaining the gardens themselves. Nutrition education extends beyond the classroom. Community health camps have been organised with trainers, schools, and the District Health Office, offering lectures, games, and street dramas. Students, families, and community members are mobilised through school activities and radio campaigns, the main communication channel in Nepal.
WDF projects seek to transform in school food environments, bringing about structural changes in the school setting are needed to translate knowledge into daily habits. Across all settings, our approach is grounded in the belief that when children understand food and nutrition, they can lead healthier lives.
From policy to plate: Shaping healthy school environments
Healthy habits stick when environments support them. Our projects adopt ‘whole-of-society’ approaches that extend beyond the school gates.
In Cambodia, the schoolyard becomes a stage where food environments determine children’s daily realities. School food vendors are often the primary source of meals, shaping the nutritional intake for the children. Our project brings about structural change through active collaboration with ministries and by reinforcing national policies like Directive No. 18, which prohibits six categories of unhealthy foods and drinks in schools. These frameworks cultivate a shared understanding of what nourishing food environments should look like, ensuring that healthier choices become the norm rather than the exception.
Similarly, in the Marshall Islands, the transformation of food environments trickles down from bold policy decisions. For years, children were surrounded by ultra processed imports, reinforcing unhealthy eating habits, and through collaboration with the government, WDF challenges the food culture where it is the most impactful: schools. New laws, including a Public Law under the Ministry of Education and a City Ordinance in Majuro, now ban unhealthy foods from school grounds and a new WDF supported project aims to design laws restricting unhealthy food marketing to minors and school policies on nutrition and physical activity. These measures shift responsibility from children to the systems around them, creating environments where nutritious choices are supported rather than undermined.
WDF projects in the Marshall Islands tackle nutrition beyond the school gates. Complementing the policy changes, school gardens and a national physical education curriculum root healthier habits in daily routines and community norms. Additionally, our initiatives seek to promote nutrition awareness among mothers through cooking classes to improve nutrition outside of school and women of reproductive age to address malnutrition even before birth, which in turn can curb the risks of low birth weights, stunting, and wasting; in turn improving lifelong health for the mother and child.
Childhood diet is shaped by interwoven systems, not schools alone, and multi-setting interventions can better address the triple burden of malnutrition and NCD risk.
School meals are more than just a plate; they are foundational to a healthy future. As the global paradox of malnutrition deepens, school meals remain one of the most powerful tools to support children’s health. When combined with nutrition education and supportive food environments, these programmes help children develop the habits and knowledge they need to thrive throughout life.
Having joined the School Meals Coalition in 2025, we are part of a global movement ensuring every child can lead healthy lives.