Universal free school meals and children’s bodyweight. Impacts by age and duration of exposure

Publication type

Journal Article

Authors

Publication date

December 1, 2024

Summary:

We study the impact on children’s bodyweight of switching from means-tested to universal provision of nutritious free school meals in England. We exploit the roll-out of universal provision across Local Authorities to estimate effects at different ages and durations of exposure, based on nurse-collected, population-wide health data for state school children. Exposure to universal free lunches reduces obesity prevalence and BMI among children aged 4–5 and 10–11, but older children’s bodyweights are less responsive than younger children’s. We find tentative evidence that effects may be cumulative, as impacts are largest for those exposed to universal free school meals throughout primary school.

Published in

Journal of Health Economics

Volume

Volume: 98:102937

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2024.102937

ISSN

1676296

Subjects

Notes

Open Access

Under a Creative Commons license

© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

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