Exploring the Intersection Between Education and Nutrition

One defining feature of sustainable development is the interconnectedness between one aspect and the others. With the concern of global hunger and food insecurity, how can education play a role in addressing those challenges? UNESCO’s “Education and nutrition: Learn to eat well” report explores the critical intersection of education and nutrition.

How Education and Nutrition Interlink

Children require sufficient nutrition to support their cognitive, physical, and emotional growth, especially during early childhood. Insufficient or excessive nutrition intake will result in stunting, wasting, obesity, and other forms of malnutrition.

UNESCO’s report cites that childhood stunting due to chronic malnutrition leads to low cognitive ability, educational attainment, and mathematics test scores among adolescents observed in Indonesia from 1993 to 2014. Studies conducted in China, Ghana, and Ethiopia yielded similar results.

Addressing child malnutrition requires a systemic intervention to tackle multidimensional poverty as its root cause, and education can be the bridge. Education can influence people to make the right food production and consumption decisions. During school days, education systems that incorporate knowledge about nutrition, healthy habits, and physical education contribute to improved lifelong nutritional status.

This influence carries on through adulthood, where education and awareness can shape people’s choices for personal health, family wellbeing, and environmental sustainability. The report notes that mothers’ education is a consistent factor determining children’s nutrition outcomes. Therefore, interventions that can address education and nutrition concerns are crucial.

Better Quality for School Meal Programs

School meals are among the programs established at the intersection of education and nutrition. It involves providing hot and nutritious meals for students at school to improve children’s education, health, and nutrition. School meals are also a vital safety net for children and families, especially those in low- and middle-income countries.

In 2022, around 418 million children across 175 countries received school meals. The number went up to 459 million in 2024. The report notes examples of school meal programs which yield positive results, including in Nigeria, whose Home-Grown School Feeding Programme has increased the primary school enrolment rate by 20%. Similarly, the school meal program in rural China that introduces vegetables, milk, and eggs managed to increase children’s nutrient intake and boost school attendance.

Despite its potential, the quality of school meals tends to be overlooked. The report notes that 27% of school meal programs worldwide do not employ nutritionists to advise on their design and implementation. Additionally, the majority of countries implementing school meals lack legislation, compulsory standards, or guidance on school food and beverages. Countries must develop indicators for school meal implementations to better align with national policy objectives, conditions, and funding available.

Ensuring Positive Results

As a part of multisectoral programs addressing issues in education and nutrition, school meals programs around the world must be carefully planned, implemented, and evaluated to create positive results. UNESCO recommends prioritizing fresh, minimally processed, and locally sourced food to be integrated into the program. Adequate financing and carefully planned expansion to more education levels are also crucial.

Meanwhile, a broader intervention in education and nutrition must also be implemented, such as raising awareness through food literacy education, embedding nutritional and healthy values in schools, and building the capacity of professionals in the nutrition sector. After all, governments, businesses, and civil society have the responsibility to make healthy and safe habits and environments accessible for all.

Read the full report here.

Editor: Nazalea Kusuma

Kresentia Madina

Reporter at Green Network Asia | Website |  + postsBio

Madina is the Assistant Manager of Stakeholder Engagement at Green Network Asia. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English Studies from Universitas Indonesia. As part of the GNA In-House Team, she supports the organization's multi-stakeholder engagement across international organizations, governments, businesses, civil society, and grassroots communities through digital publications, events, capacity building, and research.

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