Improving School Food: Putting Research into Practice

Request for a school observational visit to help shape school food research

The University of York is leading a project funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to identify the main food policy challenges in secondary schools. This work is focused on making school food healthier and fairer for every student. While there is a lot of support for healthy eating in primary schools, many students find it harder to eat well once they move to secondary school. My goal is to change this by creating a major new research project that focuses on the issues that matter most to schools.

To make sure this work is realistic, I am currently collaborating with Bradford Council’s Public Health team. A central part of this project involves visiting secondary schools to observe canteens during lunchtime and speaking directly with the experts on the ground: catering leads and school leadership teams.

Meeting with school staff and observing the food environment first-hand ensures that any future research or policy suggestions are context-sensitive, feasible, and address the real-world challenges schools face. By listening to those who deal with the school food system every day, I can ensure this research doesn’t just sit on a shelf but actually helps local leaders improve student health and wellbeing.

These observational visits are a vital first step in building research that is practical, impactful, and designed to work in a busy school setting.

If you would like to be involved, Dr Sundus Mahdi would love to hear from you!

Please get in touch via email at: sundus.mahdi@york.ac.uk