School meals and food systems: Rethinking the consequences for climate, environment, biodiversity, and food sovereignty

This White Paper was prepared by The Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition, an initiative of The School Meals Coalition (SMC), a multilateral coalition of 95+ countries aiming to improve and expand national school meal programs for all children. The White Paper, written in collaboration with 85 organizations worldwide, explains how implementing planet-friendly school meal programs can provide far reaching co-benefits for public health and human capital. The paper proposes that to maximize the transformative potential of school meal programs, governments should focus on two sets of policies. 

Nutrition guidelines and standards for school meals

Setting nutrition guidelines and standards has been recommended internationally to ensure that school meals are in line with children’s nutrition needs and adequate to their context. This report provides a descriptive overview of the situation of school meal nutrition guidelines and standards in 33 low and middle-income countries as reported through a global survey. The report identifies key aspects to consider for stakeholders who are planning to develop or update their guidelines and standards in the context of school meal programmes.

Food and Me: How adolescents experience nutrition across the world

Ideas varied according to location, age, cultural and economic background. For some, health meant a well defined musculature, while for others, health meant maintaining a balanced lifestyle that incorporates physical activity and eating well.

Fix my food. Children’s views on transforming food systems

This report brings to the forefront children's and adolescents' perspectives on food, food environments, food practices, and the transformation they desire in their food systems. UNICEF supported food systems dialogues with more than 700 children and adolescents in more than 20 countries.

Policies to protect children from the harmful impact of food marketing: WHO guideline

This WHO guideline provides Member States with recommendations and implementation considerations on policies to protect children from the harmful impact of food marketing, based on evidence specific to children and to the context of food marketing.

Nutrition action in schools: a review of evidence related to the nutrition-friendly schools initiative

This review summarizes the synthesized evidence from 117 reviews identified as relating to the five components and the 26 essential criteria of the Nutrition-Friendly Schools Initiative (NFSI). The findings may be used ‒ in conjunction with existing UN and WHO guidance and tools ‒ to inform the work of governments, policy-makers and researchers concerned with school-based health and nutrition promotion programmes and initiatives.

Implementing school food and nutrition policies: a review of contextual factors

This review provides contextual information for school food and nutrition policies. The factors considered in this review are values, resource implications, equity and human rights, feasibility and acceptability by stakeholder, as well as socio-cultural and environmental acceptability.

UNICEF Advocacy Packages for Food Environment Policies

These advocacy packages for food environment policies support the design, implementation, enforcement, and evaluation of UNICEF’s priority food environment policies for the prevention of childhood overweight and obesity. Each food environment policy includes a technical policy brief, a creative advocacy cartoon booklet and a call to action video.

Nudges to promote healthy eating in schools: policy brief

This policy brief summarizes the rationale and evidence around nudges for promoting healthy eating in school settings. It aims to increase awareness of the opportunities for nudges in a school food setting, and proposes action points for decision-makers to implement nudges for healthier eating in schools.