Food education must become a core health priority, says British Nutrition Foundation

The British Nutrition Foundation is calling for stronger funding, accountability and training to make food education a consistent part of school life as childhood obesity and food inequality persist.

The British Nutrition Foundation has urged a broader rethink of how food education is delivered in schools, warning that weak and inconsistent provision is failing children at a time of high obesity, poor diet and growing pressure on families. In a white paper published this week, the charity says food education should be treated as a core part of prevention policy, not an optional extra, because the subject touches public health, sustainability and longer-term economic resilience.

The case for change is set against stubbornly high levels of childhood excess weight in England. NHS figures published in 2024 showed that about one in eight children aged two to ten were obese, while the Health Survey for England for 2022 found that 15% of children aged two to 15 were obese. More recent national measurements show little sign of a decisive shift, with the National Child Measurement Programme reporting that 9.6% of reception-aged children were obese in 2023/24 and 22.1% of year 6 pupils were obese. Research published in The BMJ also found that almost a third of children in the most deprived areas of England had obesity by the time they left primary school, underlining the scale of inequality in the issue.

The foundation says food education can only succeed if schools are properly supported. Its white paper points to recruitment problems, higher ingredient prices, limited lesson time and patchy access to specialist kitchens and training. It argues that households on the lowest incomes are also being squeezed: according to the report, families in the poorest fifth of the population would need to spend 49% of their disposable income to afford the Government’s recommended healthy diet, rising to 85% for households with children. The charity says that when healthy eating is so far beyond reach for many families, schools become one of the few places where children can reliably build the knowledge and confidence to cook, choose and enjoy nutritious food.

Elaine Hindal, chief executive of the British Nutrition Foundation, said the white paper shows why food education matters more than ever and why fragmented delivery is limiting its impact. The foundation is calling for eight actions, including stronger monitoring and accountability, funding for ingredients and equipment, and a clearer link between food education and wider school health policy. It also wants food literacy to be treated on a par with digital, media and financial literacy, and for the subject to be tied more closely to sustainability, workforce skills and economic growth. The charity says it hopes the report will open a wider conversation with policymakers, schools, industry, families and young people about how to make food education more effective and more evenly available.