A new project has been launched to urgently address the public health need to tackle inequalities in access to nutritious meals for children with special educational needs or disabilities who attend special schools.
The Adapt-Ed study is collaborating with children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), families and carers, school professionals, third-sector organisations, and people working in health and education policy to develop a whole-school intervention to promote healthy eating in special schools. The project has been funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), with findings expected to inform a future research proposal for a larger study that will implement this approach in schools across the East of England and evaluate its effectiveness. .
Researchers from the University of Hertfordshire and Essex will work with stakeholders to adapt School Food Matters’ Healthy Zones initiative to tailor the programme, so it is appropriate for the unique needs of special schools. Heathy Zones takes a whole-school approach, engaging student voice, and involving parents, teaching staff, kitchen staff, caterers, Senior Leadership Team members and governors. Importantly, pupils are empowered to have more say about school food and developing school food policies, and access to healthier food throughout the school day, including healthier breakfast and after-school club menus. This initiative has been incorporated into mainstream schools, but has so far only been implemented in a few special schools.
Professor Rebecca O’Connell, Principal Investigator, stated:
“We want more SEND children to be able to access and enjoy inclusive, nutritious food provision at school. Improved school meal uptake can improve children’s nutrition, mental health, learning and support family finances, as well as provide benefits for the school such as improved attendance, behaviour and belonging...
Professor Rebecca O’Connell, Principal Investigator
Professor Rebecca O’Connell continues, "However, not only do schools face many challenges in providing nutritious, inclusive meals, it is not straightforward to agree what good food looks like or how to deliver it in special schools. This is why this study is so important to help ensure we can include different perspectives in shaping the future intervention and its evaluation, as well as guide us on how to ensure we involve people in ways that work for them.”
Schools are acknowledged as key influencers for children’s health and wellbeing, as schools provide both food for children to eat and educate children on health and nutrition. As such, school meals play an important role in meeting children’s right to food and alleviating the impact of poverty on children’s diets and overall wellbeing. However, nutritious school meals are not always available or accessible to all children who might benefit from them, including children with SEND. In the UK, children with SEND are more likely to grow up in poverty and are almost twice as likely to be entitled to free school meals in comparison to children without SEND. In addition, many children with SEND also fall outside their suggested healthy body mass index (BMI) and are at greater risk of being malnourished. Therefore, this project is essential to address the food and wellbeing disparities experienced by SEND children.
Georgie Branch, Programme Manager for Healthy Zones, said:
“We at School Food Matters believe every child, no matter where they live or the type of school they attend, should enjoy nutritious and delicious food at school. Our Healthy Zones programme aims to improve the food environment taking a whole school approach, and we’ve learnt a lot about how best to support mainstream schools over the past five years...
Georgie Branch continues, "However, we know special schools face different challenges when it comes to food provision and culture, which is why this research project is so important – to help us determine how to adapt our approach to ensure that children and young people with special educational needs have an equal opportunity to benefit from the programme.”
As part of the project, the team is forming stakeholder groups of children and young people, families and carers, school professionals, third-sector organisations, and people working in health and education policy. It is also forming a nationwide working group with experts in a range of fields, including the sociology of children’s food and eating, psychology and neurodiversity, public health inequalities, and economic approaches to school food. Together, these group will assist in designing the project and the future research proposal.
The project team is looking to hear from people who are interested in schools and food for children with SEND, including children, families, schools and people and organisations who work with children, families and schools. If you are interested, then contact the team via email at adapt-ed@herts.ac.uk.
Adapt-Ed is funded by the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR163616). Any views expressed are those of the research team and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the UK government.