Effectiveness of free school meal scheme questioned

According to new data, the £600 million free school meals scheme, backed by Jamie Oliver, is having a limited impact on making children healthier.

The scheme was originally introduced in 2014 as a way to improve academic achievement.

New figures obtained by the Mail on Sunday, for London boroughs Newham and Islington have suggested that the scheme is failing to significantly improve grades and increase the health of children.

The NHS figures revealed that 24.7 per cent of pupils who left Newham primaries in 2011 were classed as obese, however, this figures has risen to 24.7 per cent for those pupils who left Newham primaries in the last year, despite benefiting from access to five years of free meals.

In Islington the figure rose to 22.8 per cent from 21.8 per cent in the same time period.

Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, said: “The government's free meals scheme is expensive gesture politics. In these straitened times, the money would be much better spent on education itself.

“There is no evidence of any impact on obesity, nor would much be expected given everything involved in a child’s weight.

“Children spend a relatively small part of their lives at school, so any obesity will be down to their whole way of life with their families, not just those few hours in school.”

A spokesman for the Department for Education commented: “About 1.3 million more children are enjoying a free, nutritious meal, saving families hundreds of pounds, and, along with our new School Food Standards, establishing healthy eating habits for life.”