Impacts of Global School Feeding Programmes on Children’s Health and Wellbeing Outcomes: A Scoping Review

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundSchool feeding programmes (SFP) are one of the world’s most extensive interventions to alleviate child poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition. Schools are ideal settings to promote healthy eating habits early in life since children have access to at least one main meal per day at school. However, there is a lack of clear evidence for the effectiveness of school feeding programmes on child health outcomes. Additionally, there is considerable debate on whether feeding programmes should be universal or targeted with countries taking different approaches. This review will therefore explore global research on school feeding programmes and consider different health outcomes through targeted or universal policies.MethodsWe conducted a search across four electronic databases. These studies investigated the impacts of school feeding programmes on children’s health outcomes. 207 papers were identified with 76 studies subjected to full text screening.ResultsA total of 42 papers were included in the final review. All papers were published within the past fifteen years (2009-2024) and included thirteen countries in total. SFP were associated with child weight being more in the healthy range. Targeted SFP were negatively associated with stigma.ConclusionsUniversal SFP were effective at improving children’s health outcomes such as healthy weight, improved behaviour and social support. Overall, both targeted and universal SFP positively impact children’s health outcomes and address health disparities.STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDYThe review mapped both universal and targeted provisions, providing a broad overview of the existing literature.The review included an appraisal of the methodological quality of the included studies. Only English studies were included.Only studies published in English were included, potentially excluding relevant research in other languages.The study did not perform a formal assessment of publication bias, which could impact the interpretation of the results.