The sizes of hot meals served to primary schoolchildren will be examined, an Oireachtas committee has heard, as pupils in junior infants are getting the same portions as those in sixth class.
Simon Shevlin, principal officer in the Department of Social Protection and chairman of the interdepartmental working group on the School Meals Programme, said the issue would be “looked at”.
He told the Oireachtas committee on education it was important for parents to choose food they know their children will like and to cancel the meal if they know the child will be absent as a means of reducing waste.
Fiona Ward, the Department of Health’s national policy adviser on nutrition and obesity, said food waste and portion sizes were coming up regularly in research from an obesity perspective.
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“We’re very cognisant and as dietitians. We’re acutely aware no child who is four or five should be eating the same as a 12- year-old boy who is very physically active.”
She said she believed that if they “tackle portion size”, it will also help reduce food waste.
Mr Shevlin said the objective of the School Meals Programme is to “provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them”.
He told the committee that about 550,000 children in 3,200 schools are eligible for hot school meals this year, with the programme having a €300 million budget.
The committee heard that a registered dietitian has been employed to review the nutritional standards of the menus offered by food businesses operating under the scheme.
The working group recommended that meals with high salt and sugar content should be excluded for the 2025-2026 school year. This change is now in place.
