👉 Over 210 million children in 104 countries benefit from milk and milk products in school milk or feeding programmes.
👉 Survey results show that national governments tend to be responsible for making key decisions regarding school milk or feeding programmes, although the private sector also supports the implementation of these programmes.
👉 The majority of school nutrition programmes (81%) follow established school food and/or nutrition guidelines and standards. However, only 50% of respondents indicated the presence of studies or survey data that show the impact of the programme.
👉 Dairy foods are versatile and globally relevant. Survey results show that milk and milk products are also offered as snacks (58%), as part of breakfast (48%) and as components of lunch (46%), demonstrating how dairy foods in school feeding programmes help support nutrient needs across the day .
👉 Among programmes surveyed, liquid milk was the most commonly available product (98%), followed by yoghurt (48%) and cheese (32%). Plain milk and milk products were offered more frequently than flavoured ones, with twice the amount of plain milk, yoghurt and fermented milk being available than flavoured options. Whole, low-fat and fat-free options were reported as being available, with low-fat products dominating.
👉 Respondents in the survey cited nutritional benefits as the primary rationale for investing in milk and milk products in schools. Respondents’ highlighting the significance of nutrition education as a component of school feeding programmes emphasizes the importance of these programmes as establishing a strong foundation for nutrition across the lifespan.
👉 The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the importance of school feeding programmes for childhood nutrition and food and nutrition security. The dairy sector mobilized quickly with community stakeholders to offer solutions to disrupted programmes during the pandemic. Creative solutions in order to continue access to dairy included offering milk to children through pick-up, at-home delivery or voucher programmes.
👉 During the COVID-19 pandemic, excess milk and milk products were repurposed effectively to ensure nutritional provision and reduce food waste. In several countries, surplus milk or milk products were processed into other dairy foods, or sold in supermarkets at discounted prices, reflecting innovative approaches to manage surplus milk while minimizing waste.
👉 More than 90% of survey respondents said they had little data on food waste in school feeding programmes, suggesting that this could be a broader issue that the dairy sector can help address. Enhanced measurement and reporting of food waste in these programmes could be valuable.
These are some of the key findings of the IDF Bulletin on "The state of milk and milk products in school programmes around the world - Contributing to global child nutrition and development".
Read the full study and survey here 👉 https://bit.ly/3N5exZ3
