The Diet of Children Attending a Holiday Programme in the UK: Adherence to UK Food-Based Dietary Guidelines and School Food Standards

Abstract

Child poverty rates are rising, particularly in London, putting more children at risk of experiencing food insecurity. Holiday programmes in the UK provide children who receive free schools meals during term time with access to free/low-cost holiday clubs offering nutritious food and enriching activities during the school holidays. This study aimed to investigate whether children’s dietary intake was more adherent to the UK Eatwell Guide throughout the day and meets School Food Standards (SFS) for the lunchtime meal on a club attendance versus a non-attendance day. A repeated measures design was used to assess data on the food and drink intake of children (n = 57) aged 7–16 years old using a 24 h recall method on two separate occasions: once based on an attending club day and once based on a non-attending club day. The results showed children’s diet quality improved (p = 0.007) on an attending club day (mean: 58.0 ± SD 12.6) versus a non-attending club day (51.8 ± 15.0). Children also more closely adhered to the SFS (p = 0.001) on an attending club day (median = 9, interquartile range = 8–9) versus a non-attending club day (median = 7, interquartile range = 6–8). This suggests that holiday programmes targeting children who receive free school meals during term time have the potential to improve children’s dietary behaviours during the school holidays, underlining the importance of holiday programmes to support food security.

An Exploration of Nutritional Education within the Holiday Activities and Food Programme in England

“…To alleviate these issues, holiday clubs, which extend beyond solely providing access to food, have formed over recent years [ 5 , 6 ] and research has demonstrated significant social and health benefits of attendance, both for school-aged children and their wider families [ 7 , 8 , 9 ]; with food insecure households benefitting most from holiday provision [ 10 ]. Importantly, food diaries have demonstrated that attendance at holiday clubs improves dietary intake, with a higher consumption of core-foods on attendance days [ 7 ], and better adherence to UK dietary guidelines [ 11 , 12 ]. Moreover, both children and parents have reported numerous positive benefits of attending holiday clubs, including improved physical, social, and emotional wellbeing, and dietary intake [ 7 , 12 ].…”

A mixed-method process evaluation of an East Midlands county summer 2021 holiday activities and food programme highlighting the views of programme co-ordinators, providers, and parents

“…However, considering that the food and nutrition Aims and Standards were often not met, there needs to be greater uptake and provision of the training provided by the Co-ordinators and greater support given to the Providers to ensure that nutrition education Aims are attained in any future HAF Programme provision. Creating training resources for Providers that facilitates the delivery of nutrition education to children and parents would be beneficial as it has been reported that when children have attended the HAF Programme, the quality of their diet improved in comparison to when they did not attend ( 29 ). Our findings further support prior recommendations to provide examples of best practice on experiential learning, resources that can be used at home, and use learning from the family food education sessions to understand how a range of families can be engaged positively ( 14 , 28 ).…”

The Nutritional Quality of Food Provision at UK Government-Funded Holiday Clubs: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Energy and Nutrient Content

“…As a condition for the funding, holiday clubs have to provide at least one meal a day that meets the School Food Standards (SFS), which consist of food-based requirements to ensure that the food and drinks served at state-funded schools foster health and encourage positive eating habits [19]. To date, the adherence to SFS by HAF providers has not been evaluated [20,21]. Furthermore, to the authors' knowledge, there is a lack of studies investigating the nutritional quality of the food provided.…”

“…Furthermore, to the authors' knowledge, there is a lack of studies investigating the nutritional quality of the food provided. Previous research has focused on the food consumed at pre-HAF holiday clubs which showed promising, yet mixed, results [20,[22][23][24]. For example, Crilley et al (2022) found that participants followed a healthier diet overall and that what they eat was more adherent to SFS when they attended the holiday club compared to when they did not attend [20].…”

“…Previous research has focused on the food consumed at pre-HAF holiday clubs which showed promising, yet mixed, results [20,[22][23][24]. For example, Crilley et al (2022) found that participants followed a healthier diet overall and that what they eat was more adherent to SFS when they attended the holiday club compared to when they did not attend [20]. However, what children consumed at the lunches served at holiday clubs was not fully compliant with the SFS and on both attendance and non-attendance day the participants' diet did not fully meet the UK Eatwell Guide recommendations [25].…”