School meal programs have the potential to improve child nutrition, model healthy eating, and transform food systems. The latest available data however shows there’s much to be done in many countries globally to achieve these goals.
An estimated 408.2 million children from age 3 upward in 169 countries received food through their schools in 2022, according to the 2024 Global Survey of School Meal Programs. Of that number, 379.3 million children and adolescents of primary and secondary school-age received school food — just one quarter of the 1.49 billion children and adolescents in this age group globally, added Ayala Wineman, research coordinator at the Global Child Nutrition Foundation, which conducted the survey.
The data shows only 13% of school-aged children are receiving such meals in low-income countries versus 48% in high-income countries.