3,200 children take part in new research project on the impact of school-provided meals

From this autumn, thousands of Danish pupils will say goodbye to their packed lunches from home. The 2025 Finance Act has allocated DKK 854 million to a national trial scheme, under which 20,000 pupils in selected classes will receive school-provided lunches. The trial scheme will run from 2025 to 2028.

Solid evidence to guide future decisions on school food

Some of the pupils will be followed by a team of researchers from the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports at the University of Copenhagen in the independent research project School Food in Denmark. The study will investigate whether school-provided meals can make a positive difference to pupils’ wellbeing, health, and learning – and provide evidence to inform future policy decisions on school food in Denmark.

Many pupils already struggle in the first years of school with unhealthy eating habits, difficulties concentrating, and low wellbeing. We therefore need robust research to understand the impact of school-provided meals, both in the short term and over the long term

Assessments on the children’s terms

The research project School Food in Denmark follows 3,200 pupils – both a group participating in the national trial scheme and receiving school lunches, and a comparison group who continue to bring packed lunches from home. In addition to measurements of height, body composition and blood pressure, the two groups will undergo questionnaire-based wellbeing assessments and game-based tests of memory and attention.

Data collection will take place through visits to the schools, including both measurements and observations during meal times. The framework allows for a much more in-depth analysis of the children's physical health and well-being than the general information collected as part of the national trial scheme.

"The national trial of school-provided meals gives us a unique opportunity to study how school lunches affect pupils’ wellbeing, learning, and physical health in a high-income country. The literature provides no thorough evaluation of school food programmes focusing on wellbeing, cognitive function, and physical health, and knowledge of the long-term effects remains limited. This project will deliver a robust scientific assessment of the potential impact of school-provided meals, with findings relevant both nationally and internationally – including for policy discussions on school food," concludes Nikolai Baastrup Nordsborg.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation is funding the research project with DKK 29.7 million.