Innovations in meals provided at school in Nordic countries: uncovering the pathways linking food, learning, health and social innovation

INNOKID is a multidisciplinary project joining Nordic experts from the areas of nutrition, food sciences, education, learning, agriculture, agro-ecology, sociology, economics, consumer behavior and health sciences to provide research based evidence for future scenarios of school meals as part of the Nordic welfare systems. The main objective of the project is to study and compare the conditions under which meals in pre-schools and schools impact the student’s academic performance, health behavior and social development. To this end the study will take as a point of departure the two different trajectories that Nordic school food has followed and identify strengths and weaknesses in the two approaches. INNOKID will further determine how the Nordic welfare systems can develop food at school to become a vehicle that facilitates inter-ethnic relations, and this crossing over genders and socio-economic status thereby contributing to addressing social inequalities in health. The project will also address the changing family structures and their effect in the meal and food choices of young people and whether they are conducive or hindrances to healthy eating. Finally it will study examples of how school based healthy eating interventions can interact with physical activity interventions in order to create healthy lifestyles and sustainable life skills among young people. The project will provide evidence based knowledge that will inform the educational system, the research community and the policy makers. INNOKID will apply innovative mixed methods of qualitative and quantitative research through investigating best practices of school food provision and food related activities in Nordic Countries. This will include “mediated dialog” and “shadowing” techniques that were developed by Nordic researchers involved in this consortium. INNOKID will contribute to developing the leading position that the Nordic approaches to school meal provision has as a part of the welfare system and will contribute to the shaping of future EU policy including that related to fruit provision within the framework of School Food Scheme. INNOKID will help highlighting the influences of school meal provision on health behavior, learning abilities, life skill, food literacy as well as food citizenship. INNOKID will develop its activities in close cooperation with leading research groups at the international level, including US; UK, Brazil, Australia and The Netherlands.