Gabriella McLoughlin, assistant professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, has joined nutrition researchers, scientists and policy makers from around the world in signing The Hohenheim Declaration, a statement promoting the need for governments globally to provide school meals to children. The declaration was signed by participants at the 5th Hidden Hunger Congress on September 6 at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany.

“This was possibly the only conference globally focused almost solely on school meals,” McLoughlin says. “Having researchers from around the world sign this declaration to voice their unwavering support of investing in school meals is a big step.”

School meals are a frontline public health program, and the Hohenheim Declaration states that investment in school feeding programs around the world should have the same priority as childhood education. It notes that in 2022, 418 million children from 176 countries benefitted from school meals—30 million more than before the COVID-19 pandemic. But more resources are needed in low-income countries, where around 18% of school children benefitted from school meals, compared to as many as 61% in high-income countries.

“Food Security—especially for children—is a government and public responsibility and a global priority,” the declaration states. “Sufficient resources are needed to ensure that every child in the world has the opportunity to enjoy a nutritious school meal and the chance to learn, grow and thrive. Development agencies should target their support for school meals to the poorest countries and those most in need.”

The declaration calls for all-day-care centers and schools to remain open with meals in times of crisis and school holidays. It recommends that school meal programs purchase local food and match quality diets to local production and value chains to boost local agrobiodiversity, strengthen food sovereignty, and increase support to smallholder farmers.

McLoughlin notes that the declaration aligns with the aims of the School Meals Coalition an international policy organization working to ensure no school children go without access to food by 2030. The Coalition, funded by the World Feeding Program and the United Nations, co-sponsored the Hohenheim conference and will have its second meeting in October in Paris, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.

McLoughlin, whose work at Temple’s College of Public Health focuses on addressing food insecurity in underserved communities and school health-policy implementation, recently began a five-year, federally funded study to help Philadelphia public schools maximize student participation in meals programs.