Over half of Irish parents believe that milk should be given in hot school lunches after no drink has been provided in the scheme, a survey carried out by the National Dairy Council (NDC) has found.

The Government’s hot school meals programme, which aims to provide a free hot lunch to all primary schoolchildren by 2030, was rolled out to 1,400 schools in a pilot project earlier this year and will be provided to nearly 2,200 schools from this September.

The programme is administered by the Department of Social Protection, which budgets €3.20 for each meal, while the procurement process is managed by the participating schools.

However, dietician with the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute and mother of four Louse Reynolds has criticised that there is no milk or water provided, as there was previously when children were provided with a cold school lunch.

“Being well hydrated is also important for children during the school day, with milk and water being the recommended drinks for schoolchildren by the Department of Health.

“Milk is a simple, affordable and nutritious addition to a healthy school lunch and provides one of the three recommended servings a day of dairy for this age group.”

Lack of dairy

The latest research from the Irish Universities Nutrition Alliance has revealed low intakes of dairy among Irish teenagers, with only 4% meeting the recommendations set out by the Department of Health’s dietary guidelines.

On average, teenagers were found to consume under two servings of dairy per day - well below the recommended five servings.

The guidelines recommend five daily servings from the ‘milk, yogurt and cheese’ food group for those aged nine to 18 years, due to higher calcium requirements during the teenage years, with three servings recommended for other age groups.

Head of ATU St Angela’s in Sligo Dr Amanda McCloat said we can do more to educate both children and their parents on the importance of good nutrition.

“As any teacher will tell you, the school day is already very busy. That is why we need to look at ways to develop school meals and food education that are manageable and realistic.”

Other changes to the scheme

An NDC survey of 1,000 Irish people in July found almost nine in 10 think the hot school lunches programme will have a positive impact on children’s concentration and performance levels at school.

However, less processed food, more vegetables and more protein are three main changes people would like to see with the scheme.

As food preferences formed early in life tend to continue into adulthood, there is a growing conversation about the important role school meals can play in the lives of children.

Anseo education expert Simon Lewis said: “While schools will always do their best to ensure that children will receive the best possible lunch, systematic issues have not been tackled, such as the length of time children have to eat.

“As always, individual schools are responsible for managing everything. I don't think we'll see the same positive results as were seen in other countries where proper systems were put in place.”