Equal school meals for all - differentiation of school meals according to school social index.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

The EU is discussing providing all children healthy food at least once a day through school lunch. In Germany, a School Food Standard (SFS) aims to ensure healthy and sustainable meals, however its implementation is mandatory in only some federal states, while voluntary in others. To address social disadvantages, some states use school social indices to allocate additional funding to disadvantaged schools. This study analyzes German school menus to assess their compliance with SFS requirements under both voluntary and mandatory implementation and examines whether healthy, sustainable lunches are accessible regardless of schools' socioeconomic status.

Study design

Exploratory school meal analysis.

Methods

A random sample of schools was selected based on the

SUBMITTER: Hundeshagen C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12765146 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature