Food and nutrition education and school food to improve diets for life – Webinar 8 December

On 8 December 2022, 15.00 (CET) the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Food Programme in collaboration with the School Meals Coalition will organise a webinar: “Food and nutrition education and school food to improve diets for life – Linking school-based food and nutrition education with nutrition guidelines and standards for school food“.

Every day, millions of children and adolescents consume food in school, and for many vulnerable children a school meal can constitute a significant part of their diet and the only nutritious meal consumed. With the current global food crisis, including rising food prices, the role of school meals is even more important as a safety net for millions of children.

Nutrition guidelines and standards (NGS) are rules and regulations designed to improve the nutritional quality, as well as the overall adequacy, of foods and meals in schools, and can therefore play an important role in ensuring the right to food for children and adolescents, particularly for the most vulnerable. School-based food and nutrition education (SFNE) interventions combine hands-on educational activities with social and food environment supports to help schoolchildren learn and achieve lasting improvements in their diets and as well as their food practices and outlooks. 
 
On their own, SFNE and school food NGS interventions can have a positive impact on children and adolescents’ food practices, outlooks and diets. However, evidence shows that the effect can be larger when these are implemented together: SFNE can increase the acceptance and ownership of school food NGS by children, their parents and the larger school community; in turn, school food can become an educational tool for SFNE.
 
This webinar will focus on the why and how SFNE can be used as a tool to increase the impact of school food NGS, addressing in particular the following aspects:

  • The importance of meaningfully linking school food NGS implementation and SFNE.
  • Strategies to link school food NGS implementation and SFNE at national and school levels.
  • Country experiences in linking school food and SFNE interventions, lessons learned and recommendations for other countries. 

The webinar will be held in English.

Register here