May 17, 2023
School lunch wise investment
Health Coalition Aotearoa wants the government to expand its Ka Ora Ka Ako free lunch scheme to more schools.
Chair Boyd Swinburn says it’s the the biggest nutrition intervention since school milk in the 1930s, but it’s restricted to schools where 25 percent of students had the highest socio-economic need.
That should be at least doubled to cover the next 25 percent.
He says Ka Ora Ka Ako started off as a way to address the problem of kids coming to school with empty tummies, but it’s proving to have even greater value, including the relief it gives whanau.
Professor Swinburne says his research shows school meals also helps with socialisation as kids each together, it gets linked to the curriculum in some schools and it also creates resilient local food systems.