Almost a third of Spain’s school canteens are offering students too many portions of fried food each week, while more than a third are not providing them with enough fresh vegetables, according to a study from the country’s national food agency.
According to the report, a third of school menus are not overseen by people with nutritional qualifications, and 29.2% of schools are serving up three of more portions of fried food a week, exceeding the recommended maximum of two portions.
In October 2023, a coalition of experts said children across Europe needed to get at least one nutritious school meal a day if governments wanted to tackle rising obesity rates, prevent chronic illnesses and reduce social inequalities.
With the cost of living crisis stretching many families on the continent beyond breaking point, members of a four-year EU-funded initiative, focused on healthy eating, said action was urgently needed to ensure all European children could rely on at least one healthy meal every day.
Reacting to the report, Spain’s consumer and social rights ministry said it was working on a royal decree that would make the food agency’s recommendations binding “and tighten up the criteria on the foods that are most damaging to health”.
