School Meals in Denmark

This study looks at how a national school meal program affects the health, well-being, and learning of Danish schoolchildren aged 10 to 15 years.

The study is part of the Danish National School Meal Pilot Program (2025-2028), which provides free school meals at selected public schools. Some school classes receive free school meals, while other classes do not and are used for comparison.

Children are followed for about 1.5 years. Information is collected before and after the program using simple health measurements, questionnaires about well-being, and age-appropriate cognitive tests.

The study also uses information from Danish national registers to better understand the children's background and to study longer-term outcomes related to health, education, and social conditions. In addition, the study examines whether school meal programs are cost-effective by comparing their costs with potential benefits for children and society.

The goal of the study is to find out whether free school meals can improve children's health, well-being, and learning, and help reduce social differences.