School meals have multiple benefits and there is hard evidence that supports this claim. However, due to the multi-faceted nature of school meals, it is difficult to obtain a complete overview of the evidence. This paper attempts to give such an overview.
School meals programmes have an important role to play in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. When appropriately designed, they have the potential to improve the diets and nutrition knowledge and practices of millions of schoolchildren and their communities.
This paper updates WFP’s 2009 school feeding policy four years after its approval. It clarifies WFP’s new approach of supporting government-led programmes, and outlines innovations.