Teaching Abroad Direct Reveals School Dinners are now Less Popular Than Ever Before

These results were uncovered by a survey asking 5,000 residents in the UK between the ages of 18 – 65+ to confirm if they had a school provided lunch or a home-made packed lunch during their school days. The percentages per age group were as follows: These results were uncovered by a survey asking 5,000 residents in the UK between the ages of 18 – 65+ to confirm if they had a school provided lunch or a home-made packed lunch during their school days. The percentages per age group were as...

These results were uncovered by a survey asking 5,000 residents in the UK between the ages of 18 – 65+ to confirm if they had a school provided lunch or a home-made packed lunch during their school days. The percentages per age group were as follows:

For a visualised set of results to use, please visit https://www.teachingabroaddirect.co.uk/blog/back-in-my-day-survey. All screen captures or uses of the graphic are available for reuse with a linked attribution.

The numbers confirm that since the 60s, every generation since has seen a drop of 12% on average. Even Jamie Oliver's push for healthier school lunches hasn't stemmed the tide, with numbers continuing to drop between the 00s and 2010s. In fact, one of the biggest decreases happened between the 90s and 00s, right at the time when Jamie Oliver first ventured into the world of school dinners.

Andrew Lynch of Teaching Abroad Direct said: "The numbers suggest this trend is going to continue and even Jamie Oliver's push to make school dinners healthier and more appealing hasn't changed things.

"Our research into how school meals have changed through the years certainly reflects the fact they have never been the healthiest option for children, even during earlier decades before famously hitting a low-point in the 90s. However, shortly after that, we saw one of the largest decreases in the number of children eating school dinners ever, with 15% fewer eating them. It's entirely possible the bad publicity school dinners get, even when someone like Jamie Oliver is trying to change the conversation surrounding them continues to outweigh the positives, leading to more people taking matters into their own hands. The idea of a school dinner might now be synonymous with low quality produce and poor nutrition."

All research available here: https://www.teachingabroaddirect.co.uk/blog/back-in-my-day-survey