Opportunities for intervention and innovation in school food within UK schools.

Woodside, J V; Adamson, A; Spence, S; Baker, T; McKinley, M C

We have recently been funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) to develop a UK school food network. The overarching aim is to build a community working towards a more health-promoting food and nutrition system in UK schools (primary and secondary). Here we describe the current status of school food research, including a review of the literature supporting the Health Promoting Schools approach and outline the opportunities for intervention and innovation establishment of the network presents. Key potential school food research themes are described, and their prioritisation within the network, as well as network activities that have been planned, with the ultimate ambition of reducing socioeconomic diet-related inequalities, and, consequently, non-communicable disease risk.