Professor Boyd Swinburn, an EDOR advisory board member, has co-authored a Public Health Communication Centre (PHCC) briefing on the nutritional quality of the revised school lunch programme, now prepared by the School Lunch Collective (SLC).
Professor Swinburn and his colleagues found that the SLC lunches provided just half the energy expected for a school lunch and less than a fifth of the daily energy requirements for growing teenagers.
Only 13 out of 53 SLC meals had sufficient information to assess them, but none of the 13 meals offered by the SLC met the Ministry of Education’s Nutrition Standards, a contractual obligation for the school lunch providers.
When the revised school lunch menu was announced in October 2024, EDOR researcher and dietitian Dr Rosie Jackson was asked by 1News for her assessment of the nutritional value of the new meals.
Dr Rosie Jackson
Dr Jackson found from the limited nutrition information available on the packaging that the new lunch offerings reduced the amount of food that the children were getting, lacked fresh vegetables, and provided a more processed and less varied diet.
Follow the news articles
- Aotearoa’s government-funded school lunches failing nutrition standards, The Briefing, Public Health Communication Centre (PHCC), 28 March 2025
- NZ school lunches 'half the energy' kids need, 1News, 29 March, 2025
- New school lunches don't give kids enough energy, failing nutrition standards, RNZ, 31 March 2025
- What's in the Government's new $3 school lunches? 1News, 22 October, 2024
*thumbnail photo credit: 1News