School and local authority characteristics associated with take-up of free school meals in Scottish secondary schools, 2014

Abstract

School meals are an important state-delivered mechanism for improving children's diets. Scottish local authorities have a statutory duty to provide free school meals (FSM) to families meeting means-testing criteria. Inevitably take-up of FSM does not reach 100%. Explanations put forward to explain this include social stigma, as well as a more general dissatisfaction amongst pupils about lack of modern facilities and meal quality, and a preference to eat where friends are eating. This study investigated characteristics associated with take-up across Scottish secondary schools in 2013-2014 using multilevel modelling techniques. Results suggest that stigma, food quality and the ability to eat with friends are associated with greater take-up. Levels of school modernisation appeared less important, as did differences between more urban or rural areas. Future studies should focus on additional school-level variables to identify characteristics associated with take-up, with the aim of reducing the number of registered pupils not taking-up FSM.

‘In most supermarkets food does not cost £3 per day …’ The impact of the school food voucher scheme during COVID‐19

“…The reliability of FSM as a proxy for measuring marginalisation has been criticised (Taylor, 2017 ), as some children who are not in receipt of FSM still suffer from food insecurity (Gorard et al, 2021 ). More families registered to gain access to the FSM during the COVID‐19 pandemic so consideration to stigmas need to be thought about as these come with labelling (Chambers et al, 2016 ). At this point, it is helpful to return to the main research questions here by addressing each one:…”