Aussie Parents Prioritize Nutritious School Lunches
As kids head back to school and attention returns to the daily grind of lunch boxes, new research reveals Australian parents are overwhelmingly supportive of school-provided lunch programs, with nutrition and variety their biggest priorities.
Led by Flinders University's Caring Futures Institute, the researchers surveyed almost 400 parents of primary school children across Australia, finding 93 percent of parents were interested in school-provided lunches and willing to pay for them.
Nutrition quality, menu variety and environmental sustainability were found to be of most importance for parents when considering a potential school-provided meal system.
"There is growing momentum across Australia for rethinking how food is provided in schools, with research showing school lunches can reduce stigma and increase social equity, alongside improved nutritional and learning outcomes," says Professor Rebecca Golley, a Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics and project lead of Flinders University's school food research program.
"Parents are a really important interest holder for any new ways to nourish kids while at school. For a school lunch program to be financially viable, commitment and investment from families is going to be key.
"What this research shows is that Australian parents are willing to invest in a different future for school food and are willing to contribute financially. Parents have also highlighted what matters to them. This is important because a new system that reflects parental needs is more likely to be successful and sustainable."
The research tested six key components of a hypothetical school-provided lunch model, including cost, nutrition, sustainability, menu options, access, and a whole-school approach to food, in order to determine the trade-offs between these factors for families.
"Nutritional quality of the meal was the strongest driver of parents' hypothetical choice to participate in a school lunch program with parents overwhelmingly favouring menus that focussed on nutritious food, made from quality ingredients, ahead of other factors," says study lead author Dr Alexandra Mason.
"Menu variety was the next most important consideration, with strong preference for having two meal options rather than a single dish.
"Parents did also note the potential for the program to expand their child's palate, expressing an interest in children trying a wider range of foods."
Environmentally sustainable systems and approaches that integrated food education, positive messages and learning about healthy eating across the school day, were also highly valued.
"Predictably, the survey found the lower-cost options were more appealing, but parents did demonstrate clear willingness to pay for programs to go beyond just providing something to eat and instead focus more on food quality, sustainability and linking to curriculum," says Dr Mason.
"On average, parents reported spending around $6 per day on lunchboxes and said they would be happy to pay a similar amount for a school-provided lunch.
"Although it's worth noting preferences and willingness to pay differed across sociodemographic factors, including household income and number of children in school, indicating there is a need for a system that can be tailored for different families."
The team say the findings provide strong evidence to inform the design of an Australian school meal system that meets parent expectations and supports child health and wellbeing.
"We know from universal school meal systems in other countries that the benefits range from improved nutrition and learning outcomes, to better social equity," says Professor Golley.
"Many parents in our survey were motivated by the idea that all children would receive the same meal, with 70 per cent saying they valued the potential for equal and stigma-free food provision.
"These results give policymakers valuable guidance on what families consider essential for a school-provided meal program. Parents are a key stakeholder, and their preferences must be considered alongside those of educators, policymakers and children themselves."
In 2026, the team is leading a national project that will look at 36 schools as they introduce different approaches to feeding kids at schools.
"This is an important project to build the evidence base for doing school food differently in Australia," says Professor Golley.
"Schools around Australia are trying some really innovative programs. What we need is a national evaluation framework to build national evidence of the benefit of 'thinking outside the lunchbox'."
The paper, 'Exploring Australian parent preferences for a school-provided meal offering using a discrete choice experiment' by Alexandra C. Manson, Rebecca K. Golley, Vicki Brown, Daniela McCann, Brittany J. Johnson is published in the journal Appetite. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2025.108335. This work was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship and the King and Amy O'Malley Trust. Johnson is supported by The Hospital Research Foundation Group Early-Mid Career Researcher Fellowship.
https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2026/01/29/nutritious-and-varied-school-provided-lunches-top-of-the-menu-for-australian-parents/
View Original | AusPol.co Disclaimer