Protecting children's health through universal and sustainable school meals: European and US urban policy experiences.

Introduction: School meal policies can protect children's health by reducing food insecurity, and they can also increase social justice, school attendance and food systems sustainability if designed to do so. This study analysed school meal policies in Vienna, Copenhagen, Madrid, and New York City (NYC) designed to improve nutritional health, sustainability and accessibility to school meals for vulnerable children.

Context: Child poverty is a growing and worrying reality in high-income countries. In 2022/2023, the prevalence of child poverty reached 17.7%, 17.9%, 34.5 and 23% in Vienna, Copenhagen, Madrid and NYC, respectively. Data collection and policy analysis involved reviewing peer-reviewed journal articles, official national and local reports and food strategies from the past decade (2014-2024) focusing on educational centres serving children and adolescents for each city.

Policy challenges and actionable recommendations: Nutritional dimensions of school food remained central, focusing on the EAT model, that builds upon the concept of planetary health and puts forth the new term 'planetary health diet,' healthy cooking techniques, food education and childhood obesity prevention. Climate change mitigation goals were reflected in sustainable food procurement, plant-forward menus and waste reduction policies. Accessibility to school meals for vulnerable children remained the main food policy challenge in all four cities analysed with the universal free school meal programmes implemented in NYC, offering a useful policy experience.

Conclusions: Multidimensional school meal policies can improve children's nutrition-related health and sustainability while reaching vulnerable children. As cities face childhood poverty, migration, food insecurity and climate change, reorienting school food systems remains crucial for addressing children's health, environmental resilience and social justice.