The report titled ‘Policies and interventions to create healthy school food environments: WHO guideline’ highlights that healthy food in schools can help children develop healthy dietary habits for life.
WHO recommends increasing the availability of healthy foods and beverages while reducing unhealthy foods. It also suggests limiting free sugars, saturated fats and sodium, while offering more whole grains, fruits, nuts and pulses.
Other recommendations include implementing ‘nudging interventions’ – changes in the packaging, placement or portion size of foods designed to encourage children to select healthier foods.
Child obesity levels surpassed underweight cases around the world for the first time in 2025. Around one in ten school-aged children and adolescents were living with obesity last year, and one in five – or 391 million – were overweight.
A spokesperson for WHO said: “Children spend a large share of their day in school, making it a critical setting for shaping lifelong dietary habits and reducing health and nutrition inequities. Yet the foods available, served, sold or promoted in and around many schools often include products high in saturated fats, trans-fatty acids, free sugars and salt, and are not aligned with national dietary guidance.
“The recommendations aim to increase the availability, purchase and consumption of foods and beverages that contribute to a healthy diet, and to reduce the presence and consumption of those that do not. The guideline emphasises that foods and beverages provided, served, sold or consumed at schools should be safe and support healthy diets, in line with children’s rights and national public health goals.”