Mahdi, Sundus orcid.org/0000-0002-6918-3453, Connolly, Annie, Doherty, Bob orcid.org/0000-0001-6724-7065 et al. (1 more author) (2025) 'Will my fingerprint be enough?':Secondary school students struggle to purchase a healthy, tasty and sustainable meal on the UK free school meal allowance. Public Health Nutrition. e19. ISSN 1368-9800
Abstract
Objective: Free school meals (FSM) are a crucial form of support for families. This study aimed to investigate whether the FSM allowance can provide what is perceived to be, healthy, sustainable and satisfying food. Design: A mixed methods study incorporating co-production, citizen science and participatory approaches was conducted. Citizen scientists were given a daily budget equivalent to the FSM allowance and asked to purchase a 'tasty, healthy and sustainable' school lunch for a week. Alongside keeping records of available and purchased foods, young people engaged in focus groups to capture information on perceptions of food offered and FSM allowance adequacy. Setting: Secondary schools in Yorkshire, UK. Participants: Citizen scientists (n 42) aged 11-15 years across seven schools. Results: Obstacles were faced in obtaining sustainable and healthful meals when restricted to an FSM allowance. Reasons included restrictions in what could be purchased due to costs, limitations in the use of allowances that restricted breaktime purchases leading to hunger, inadequate portion sizes, systemic barriers like hurried lunch breaks that encourage 'grab and go' options and broken water fountains that led students to purchase bottled drinks. Findings were reinforced by descriptive food record data. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that schools would benefit from national policies to address the lack of funding, infrastructure issues and capacity to support optimal provision of food to those on FSM as well as provide greater flexibility in how pupils use their allowance. Young people verified these findings, which they presented to policymakers at a parliamentary event.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), 2025. |
Keywords: | Citizen science,Co-production,Food insecurity,Free school meals,Policy,School food,Sustainability |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Health Sciences (York) The University of York > Faculty of Social Sciences (York) > The York Management School The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Hull York Medical School (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 13 Mar 2025 05:33 |
Last Modified: | 17 Mar 2025 00:11 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980024002593 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/S1368980024002593 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:224368 |
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Description: ‘Will my fingerprint be enough?’: secondary school students struggle to purchase a healthy, tasty and sustainable meal on the UK free school meal allowance
Licence: CC-BY 2.5