Sheffield researcher helps shape global policy on school meals and child health

What children eat at school can influence far more than their lunchtime. Access to nutritious food, opportunities to learn about healthy eating and effective support for adolescent health can all help shape young people's wellbeing, education and future opportunities.

Dr Robert Akparibo, Senior Lecturer in Global Health and Nutrition at the University of Sheffield, is working with international organisations and researchers to ensure these issues receive the attention they deserve in global policy.

Dr Akparibo has been recognised with an appointment to serve as Co-Chair of the Global School Meals Coalition Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition. He leads an international network of researchers working to turn evidence into action. The Consortium helps build the evidence base that governments and policymakers need to strengthen school health and nutrition programmes and improve outcomes for children and adolescents worldwide.

His work is contributing to international initiatives spanning education, children and adolescent health and the development of school meal standards, helping connect research with the decisions that affect young people's lives.

One important strand of this work is helping education systems recognise their role in building healthier eating habits that can last a lifetime.

The Research Consortium has contributed to UNESCO's 2025–2026 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, Learn to Eat Well, which examines how education can support better nutrition and promote lifelong healthy eating behaviours.

The report advocates a joined-up approach to food education, embedding food literacy into learning from early childhood through adulthood. This includes formal education as well as non-formal and informal learning, recognising that people need opportunities throughout their lives to develop the knowledge and skills to make informed food choices.

Dr Akparibo attended the report's international launch at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, where he joined a panel of international leaders and experts, including UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for Education, UNEP Goodwill Ambassadors and the Director General of the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT.

The panel explored how education can contribute to healthier, more sustainable food systems, highlighting the connections between what people learn, the choices they make and the wider food environments in which they live. Robert said: “Education can play a critical role in building healthier eating habits and more sustainable food systems.”

The impact of Dr Akparibo's work extends beyond education policy. His expertise is also helping inform responses to disruption and strengthen the way countries monitor the health and nutrition of young people.

Following disruption to Ukraine's national school meals programme due to the Russian-Ukraine conflict, Dr Akparibo has contributed as a technical expert to a WHO working group developing policy guidance to support its restoration.

This work highlights the importance of school meals not only as a source of nutrition, but also as part of wider efforts to support children's wellbeing and restore essential services during periods of crisis and recovery.

He also contributes to joint UNICEF–World Food Programme technical working groups reviewing and developing global indicators for adolescent health and nutrition. Reliable indicators help countries and international organisations track progress, identify where support is needed and strengthen accountability for improving adolescent wellbeing.

Together, these initiatives demonstrate how research and technical expertise can support practical policy responses, from restoring school food programmes in challenging circumstances to improving the global evidence used to guide investment in young people's health.

More recently, Dr Akparibo represented the University of Sheffield and the Global School Meals Coalition Research Consortium at an expert consultation convened by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome. The meeting focused on developing a global methodology to help countries establish evidence-based nutrition guidelines and standards for school meals.

Although countries have different food cultures, resources and nutritional needs, all face the challenge of ensuring that meals provided through schools contribute to children's health and development. A robust, adaptable methodology can help governments develop standards that reflect their national contexts while drawing on evidence about good nutrition.

The aim is to help governments make informed decisions about the nutritional quality of school food, strengthening the contribution school meal programmes can make to children's health and learning.

From UNESCO's work on food education to international efforts to strengthen school meals and adolescent health monitoring, Dr Akparibo's contributions reflect the importance of connecting research with policy and practice.

His role in bringing researchers together and contributing expertise to international initiatives helps ensure that evidence generated and shared through global collaborations can inform decisions affecting children and adolescents around the world.

Reflecting on his international appointments, Dr Akparibo said: “It is both humbling and rewarding to have my work recognised through these international appointments. More importantly, they provide an opportunity to contribute evidence and expertise that can help improve the health, nutrition, and learning outcomes of children and adolescents globally.”

Through these partnerships, the University of Sheffield is contributing to international efforts to improve school health and nutrition, supporting a future in which more children and young people can access nutritious food, develop healthy habits and benefit from better opportunities to learn and thrive.