Since September 2014 all children in Reception, year 1 and year 2 in state funded primary schools were offered a free lunch as part of a policy known as Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM). The previous free school meals policy was income based, meaning that not all children received one. This policy represents a major change to school food in England, and has the potential to improve nutrition and narrow inequalities between groups of children.

This project will use a range of publicly available data to examine the uptake of UIFSM among schools across the country. The project will look at whether the policy can be linked to improved nutrition, and an increase or decrease in the number of children who are underweight or overweight.

The project will use data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey and the Living Costs and Food Survey, which provide detailed data on food purchasing and eating to assess links to nutritional intake over time. The project will use data from the Department for Education and Government funding data to assess how levels of funding are related to numbers of children in school using these meals. The National Child Measurement Programme will provide data to assess links to percentages of underweight and overweight children in Local Authorities.

These findings will provide a comprehensive picture of the UIFSM policy, which can be used to inform and work with policy makers.

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