Universal free school meals and healthcare utilisation
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Assessing the impact of discretionary universal free school meal schemes on primary school children’s healthcare utilisation
IRAS ID
330382
Contact name
Jakob Petersen
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen Mary University of London, Research & Development Governance Manager
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 23 days
Research summary
The youngest children in state schools (R-Y2) have been offered free school lunch since 2014/14. For older children (Y3+), only those from families on very low income can eat school lunches for free. Two-year pilots where all children could eat for free were however initiated in 2009/10. The results showed improvements in exam results but not in terms of healthy weight status or school absence.
Four local authorities in London have since introduced their own universal free school meal schemes in Year 3-6. We will study a range of outcomes using anonymised, national data sets. The focus of this part of the study is whether the schemes have affected how often children are taken to see a GP and whether these consultations are related to obesity.
We will work with local authorities in Northeast London with and without universal free school meals. To link data collected in schools with data collected in GP practices, we will ask NHS and the collaborating local authorities to encrypt the NHS number on their data and only share anonymised data with us. The data from the local authority come from the National Child Measurement programme, which each year take height and weight measurements of children in schools. Parents receive a letter from the local authority beforehand which explains that the data may be linked to data held by NHS Digital and Department of Health and Social Care. Parents then have the option to withdraw their children from the measurements.
All the data have already been collected and no children will be directly identifiable from the data made available to us. We will furthermore ensure that no children are indirectly identifiable from the outputs we produce. The findings will be made publicly available and potentially inform decisions at local and national government level.REC name
East Midlands - Derby Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/EM/0238
Date of REC Opinion
7 Dec 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion