Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Experts from the Institute of Macroeconomic and Regional Research (IMRI) studied how free meals for primary school students in schools affects their attendance and health.

According to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), approximately 41% of primary school children worldwide now benefit from school feeding programs. This figure is 18% in low-income countries, 39% in lower-middle-income countries, and 61% in high-income countries.

Today, about 30 million children in EU countries receive free milk, fruit and vegetables thanks to such programs. In Russia, primary school students receive hot meals and hot drinks at least once a day. In China, a program has been in place since 2000 to provide milk to school students.

Providing free meals to students in grades 1-4 in schools in Uzbekistan began as an experiment in 2022 in the Republic of Karakalpakstan and the Khorezm region. In the Republic of Karakalpakstan - 147.4 thousand, in the Khorezm region - 141.8 thousand students are provided with free meals.

During the study, IMRI experts surveyed 4,000 primary school students in 40 schools in the Republic of Karakalpakstan and Khorezm region. It was revealed that the implementation of the free school meals program in pilot regions during 2022-2023 was recognized as “satisfactory”.

In addition, as part of the IMRI project to assess the child well-being index in Uzbekistan, implemented with the support of the World Bank, a sociological survey was conducted in which more than 2,000 households and more than 3,000 children from all regions of the republic took part. The survey results made it possible to determine the connection of this program with children’s school attendance.

During the study, the Propensity score matching model was used. Calculations showed that in the Republic of Karakalpakstan and the Khorezm region, 85% of students who received free meals over the past month did not miss classes, while in other regions this figure was 77%. Thus, the program contributed to an 8% increase in children’s school attendance.

Although the school feeding program implemented as a pilot in 2022-2023 in the Republic of Karakalpakstan and Khorezm region was considered satisfactory, special attention needs to be paid to certain aspects of this issue. In particular:

review of the free school meals ration taking into account living conditions in each region;

creating a kitchen or dining area in all schools of the republic and providing primary school students with hot meals;

inclusion in the school nutrition diet of milk and dairy products, as well as products enriched with macro- and micronutrients, vitamins, as well as with a limited content of fat, sugar and salt;

creation of an electronic online platform to strengthen public control and regular monitoring.