Changes are on the horizon for the food that students can choose in English schools. The government is proposing updates to the school food standards, which set out what schools can serve. The changes are aimed at increasing fibre and reducing fat, sugar and salt in school food. These will, for example, remove deep fried foods and fruit juice from school menus, while also limiting how often options such as pizza can be offered.
Our new research examined what students chose in secondary school under the current school food standards, and highlights students’ established patterns of food choice.
In our study, we examined more than a quarter of a million choices made by over 800 11- to 18-year-olds in a secondary school. By looking at what they chose over one academic year, we developed a profile for each student – and were able to look at patterns of food choice. We found that students fell into one of five groups, which we named according to the foods and drinks that dominated.
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The largest group was “sandwich combo fans”, with 40% of students, who tended to choose a combination of drinks, sandwiches and cookies or traybakes. The next group was “break time snackers”: 23% of students, who predominantly chose savoury snacks.
Selections by “traybake enthusiasts” were dominated by cookies and traybakes (19% of students), and those of “pizza lovers” by pizzas (17% of students).
Finally, the smallest group, “healthy lunchers” – less than 2% of students – tended to choose daily specials. These were only popular among healthy lunchers. Daily specials historically formed the backbone of a secondary school menu cycle in England. They contributed to an average lunch meeting the previous nutrient targets from older nutrient-based standards (which are no longer in place), and may have a more nutritionally favourable profile than other options.
Cookies and traybakes made up a quarter of all items selected and featured strongly across all patterns. They dominated selections by traybake enthusiasts and sandwich combo fans. Cookies and traybakes were also popular with pizza lovers (where they came second only to pizza) and break time snackers (second only to savoury snacks) as well as with healthy lunchers (second only to daily specials).
As well as looking at students’ patterns of food choice, we looked at trends with age. We found that, as students got older, there was a shift towards more breaktime snacking, with the proportion in this cluster increasing. Students here predominantly selected savoury snacks, such as bacon rolls, potato wedges and toast.
This shift may be related to older students moving away from a conventional lunch in the canteen, opting for alternatives and exercising autonomy over their food choices. So, for example, they may prefer to select snacks at school and bring in food from home or purchased on the way to school.
As with all research, it’s important to acknowledge the study limitations. Our findings should be considered within the context of the school, which was an urban secondary school, with more children eligible for free school meals than the national average at the time (academic year 2017-18), and with school food provided by a catering company.
What our study clearly showed was that students consistently gravitated towards certain foods. Cookies, traybakes and pizza were very popular, and daily specials and fruit were not. Ultimately, students didn’t tend to opt for food with more preferable nutritional composition.
The impact of school food on diet
We were particularly interested in adolescents’ food choice because 11- to 18-year-olds in the UK consume too much sugar and saturated fat and not enough fibre, fruit and vegetables. National data shows the extent of this issue. Less than 10% of 11- to 18-year-olds meet recommendations for fruit and vegetables, and 96% do not get recommended amounts of fibre. The vast majority exceed recommended limits for free sugars (95% of 11- to 18-year-olds) and most, for saturated fat (84% of 11- to 18-year-olds).
Understanding how and what young people choose in schools is important because this can make a substantial contribution to their diets, and because food habits during adolescence are important later in life. Taken together, these reflect how important school food is to the nation’s diet.
Our research findings highlight the importance of what students choose from the various options available to them, the dominance of certain items, and the relevance of convenient grab and go items.
The impact of the proposed changes to the school food standards is difficult to predict. For example, the updates restrict the availability of traybakes and pizza, highlighted as important choices for students. How young people respond to this – and if they opt for alternatives beyond the school menu – may depend upon how caterers respond to the updates and how school food changes.
As well as considering what foods are available under the proposed updates, other factors are important. These include behavioural insights to promote healthier food choice and the funding context and relevance of canteen revenue for schools. The convenient grab-and-go nature of some of the popular items is an important factor too, for example, when compared to some plated meals. Other aspects, such as how long students have for lunch, queuing and seating, may also play a role.
It will be particularly interesting to see how school food provision adjusts and in turn, how students respond – and ultimately, how the food choice patterns of those using the canteen evolve.
