News Release

October 11, 2000
For Immediate Release

New study raises questions about school feeding programs

Victoria - School feeding programs don’t solve child hunger and poor nutrition, according to a research report released today by Information Partnership, a Victoria-based social research firm.

School-based Feeding Programs: A good choice for children? by David Hay was based on interviews with 28 experts in child health and feeding programs across Canada and an extensive review of relevant Canadian research. It was funded by Health Canada.

“If we really want to solve child hunger, we need to develop a much broader response than school meal programs,” says Hay.

Some of the problems identified by experts interviewed for the report are that the programs only feed children for about half of the year because they don’t operate on weekends or school vacations. They also don’t provide any help to poor families so that they are better able to buy adequate food for their children. And the nutritional quality of the food offered in schools has not been well researched.

While experts also identified some positive results of school feeding programs, such as improved school attendance, positive social experiences and a reduction of family time-stress, they worry that the programs have been unable to demonstrate reductions in hunger and enhanced nutrition. Experts have also observed that school feeding programs can increase dependency and stigma for the children and families who use them.

“The jury is really still out on school meal program effectiveness. There is just not enough research to assess how well they meet the needs of children who are not eating properly at home. Before investing further in such programs, better research should be done. This would help us to know, for example, how much of children’s dietary needs such programs fill,” says David Hay.

For more information, contact David Hay (250) 370-7566.
Email: [email protected]

Information Partnership is an independent research, evaluation, and information systems business based in Victoria, British Columbia.