Clinical trial
School Meals in Denmark
Opening soon · Not applicable · 0 countries · Registry ID NCT07389421
What this study is about
This study looks at how a national school meal program affects the health, well-being, and learning of Danish schoolchildren aged 10 to 15 years. The study is part of the Danish National School Meal Pilot Program (2025-2028), which provides free school meals at selected public schools. Some school classes receive free school meals, while other classes do not and are used for comparison. Children are followed for about 1.5 years. Information is collected before and after the program using simple health measurements, questionnaires about well-being, and age-appropriate cognitive tests. The study also uses information from Danish national registers to better understand the children's background and to study longer-term outcomes related to health, education, and social conditions. In addition, the study examines whether school meal programs are cost-effective by comparing their costs with potential benefits for children and society. The goal of the study is to find out whether free school meals can improve children's health, well-being, and learning, and help reduce social differences.
Basic eligibility
Full registry criteria
Treatments and study arms
School meal classes
Natural experiment embedded within the Danish National School Meal Pilot Program (2025-2028), which offers free school meals to selected public schools. Children receive a free school-provided meal (typically lunch) five days per week. Meals vary across schools, as each school selects its own meal provider. All meals must comply with the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations and the Danish Food-Based Dietary Guidelines, with a focus on fish, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, access to drinking water, and the promotion of children's food literacy.
Primary outcomes
Between group difference in change in the total summary score of health-related quality of life measured with the KIDSCREEN 27 child self-report questionnaire. Data is collected using an adapted video and speech assisted electronic version with a smiley scale for each answer. The questionnaire assesses the child's physical well-being (5 items), psychological well-being (7 items), peers and social support (4 items), and school environment (4 items). Autonomy and parent relation (7 items) are not used.
Study locations
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