Nutrient-Level Evaluation of Meals Provided on the Government-Funded School Lunch Program in New Zealand

Abstract

Approximately 1 in 6 children in New Zealand are living in households facing poverty and 14% of the population is food insecure. The Ka Ora, Ka Ako|Healthy School Lunches program aims to reduce food insecurity by providing access to a nutritious lunch every school day. This study analyzed the nutritional content of Ka Ora, Ka Ako meals and compared them to national and international standards. Meals were selected at random from approved menus. The suppliers covered by the 302 meals analyzed provide 161,699 students with a lunch (74.9% of students on the program). The meals were analyzed using Foodworks 10 nutrient analysis software. The nutrient content was compared against the New Zealand/Australia Nutrient Reference Values (NRVs) and to nutrient-level standards for international school lunch programs. A total of 77.5% of nutrients analyzed exceeded 30% of the recommended daily intakes. Protein, vitamin A and folate met the NRV targets and a majority of the international standards (55/57). Energy, calcium, and iron were low compared to NRVs and international standards (meeting 2/76 standards). Carbohydrates were low compared to international standards. The findings have been used to inform the development of revised nutrition standards for the program, which will be released in 2022.

Health, wellbeing and nutritional impacts after 2 years of free school meals in New Zealand

“…Principals in this study indicated that there was more flexibility to achieve good uptake with the internal model and on-site cook, as well as better opportunities to integrate with the curriculum. Following a recent nutritional evaluation of the school lunches ( de Seymour et al , 2022 ) that found lunches to be low in carbohydrates, energy, calcium and iron, the guidelines were reviewed to ‘provide more flexibility to design appealing menus that are also healthy’ ( Ministry of Education, 2023 ). The new 2023 guidelines now allow, for example, white rice or pasta, baked savory items and a lower minimum weight for salad items ( Ministry of Education, 2022a ).…”

“…The proportion of schools electing to cook meals at school is low in Ka Ora, Ka Ako at 23% ( Vermillion Peirce et al , 2022 ) compared with 56% globally ( Global Child Nutrition Foundation (GCNF), 2022 ). Further, the Ministry of Education’s recent nutritional evaluation of the lunches reported that all significant nutrients and meal size were higher in the internal meals compared with meals from external providers ( de Seymour et al , 2022 ). While anecdotally we know of schools shifting from external to internal models, data to show the size of the shift is not currently available.…”

Health, wellbeing and nutritional impacts for students and families after two years of government-funded school lunches in low advantage schools in Aotearoa New Zealand.

“…8 Principals in this study indicated that there was more exibility to achieve this with the internal model with an on-site cook. Following a recent nutritional evaluation of the school lunches 23 , the nutritional guidelines have been reviewed in 2023 to "provide more exibility to design appealing menus that are also healthy" 2 . The nutritional evaluation found that lunches were low in carbohydrates, energy, calcium and iron.…”

“…39 Further, the Ministry of Education's recent evaluation of the nutrition value of the lunches has identi ed that all signi cant nutrients and meal size were in higher amounts in the internal meals compared to meals from external providers. 23 While anecdotally we know of schools shifting from external to internal models, data to show the size of the shift is not currently available. Principals in our study cited set-up di culties and cost as the reason not to adopt the internal model.…”

“…The nutritional evaluation found that lunches were low in carbohydrates, energy, calcium and iron. 23 The new 2023 guidelines now allow, for example, white rice or pasta, baked savory items and a lower minimum weight for salad items. 24 The increased food waste when preferences are not met that our participants mentioned has also been observed in other studies.…”