Wageningen University & Research and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, together with various partners, conducted research into offering a healthy school lunch. ‘Do children eat more healthily when they are offered lunch at school?’ was the central question. During lunch, the children could choose from whole-grain bread, healthy toppings, vegetables, water, milk and buttermilk. Every day there was something extra, such as soup, salad, an egg or fruit. The lunch follows the Guidelines for Good Nutrition.

Children started eating more healthily during the school lunch

Compared with lunch brought from home, many more children eat vegetables during the school lunch (50% at the school lunch compared with 7% at lunch from home). More children also ate whole-grain and brown bread (85% instead of 52%), more children drank water or milk (75% instead of 44%), and fewer children drank sugar-sweetened beverages (4% instead of 28%).

Support for a healthy lunch at school

Children, teachers and parents view the school lunch positively, although they are also satisfied with lunch from home. A large majority of pupils indicated that they would like the school lunch to continue permanently. Positive aspects mentioned were that every child receives the same food at the school lunch, children learn to eat new products, and they enjoy eating together with their classmates. A less positive aspect is the time investment required from teachers, because offering a healthy school lunch takes more time than the current lunch.

Improving children’s dietary patterns

Children in the Netherlands eat too few vegetables, fruit and whole-grain bread and drink too many sugar-sweetened beverages. There are also major differences in the composition and quality of the packed lunches brought from home by children at school and between schools. Since every child in the Netherlands attends primary school, a healthy school lunch could considerably improve children’s dietary patterns in the Netherlands. The results of this research can serve as a guideline for introducing a healthy school lunch at Dutch primary schools, helping 1.4 million children learn to eat more healthily. The results are currently being combined with the results of the “Healthy Primary School of the Future” project and incorporated into a report that will be submitted to the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.

Symposium participation

During the online symposium A Healthy School Lunch in Practice on 24 September, the results of the research into support, composition, implementation and effects of a healthy school lunch at three primary schools in the Netherlands were presented. In an interactive session, participants then discussed the results, what they mean and how they can be applied in practice. This was done on the basis of four questions:

  • How can we ensure sufficient support from parents for a healthy school lunch in the Netherlands?
  • How can we ensure that a healthy school lunch does not further increase teachers’ workload and may even reduce it?
  • How can we make a healthy school lunch affordable for every child in the Netherlands?
  • How can we ensure political support for a healthy school lunch?

According to Tilly de Jong of Glos Educatief, the answer to the first question is clear: “Tell parents that it will benefit them as well. Invite them to come and take a look. Make sure it is the same for all children. Choose a positive approach: not ‘we know better’. Take parents seriously. And involve them in the process.”

To make the healthy school lunch affordable for every child in the Netherlands, De Jong offers the following suggestions: “The government should contribute, as should health insurers and possibly businesses. This could be done nationally, but preferably at the municipal level. Parents should also contribute, potentially based on income. After all, eating lunch at home also costs money.”