We need to tackle child hunger and poverty – the school milk scheme is essential for families

The cost of living crisis is hitting millions of British families. The price of the weekly shop, filling up the car and other basics are all going up. With household budgets being squeezed ever tighter, families are having to make difficult decisions. Inevitably, thoughts turn to what can be cut in the name of belt-tightening. And one area that is at risk is school milk.

School milk is a fundamental part of school life and has been for generations, with millions of children across the UK sitting down with their classmates to enjoy mid-morning milk.

As a doctor, I know the health benefits of drinking dairy milk – and this is especially true for children. Cow’s milk provides kids with an incredible source of nutrients that are essential for growth and development, including vitamins B2 and B12. Milk is also essential for supporting healthy bones – with calcium being especially important during childhood, when the skeleton is still growing – and for making young teeth stronger.

The government has subsidised milk for children aged 5-11 through the European School Milk Scheme. But parents must make up the difference and rising bills might encourage some parents to make the difficult decision to cut back. That would potentially leave millions of schoolchildren without the health and nutritional benefits of milk.

Additionally, this scheme may now be under threat as it was funded by the EU. The UK government is yet to guarantee that it will permanently roll over the funding in the long term. But it should be a top priority to improve children’s health.

As a devolved issue, there are different systems in place in Cardiff and in Edinburgh. But the Welsh and Scottish governments are being much more proactive and generous in ensuring that schoolchildren continue to benefit from daily access to subsidised milk.

As well as the health and nutritional benefits, milk also provides schoolchildren with a mid-morning energy boost and keeps them hydrated between meals, helping them to develop, learn and concentrate. Drinking milk can help combat hunger and fight obesity.

The UK government’s School Milk scheme is essential for tackling child hunger and poverty.

As part of my work with the School and Nursery Milk Alliance (SNMA), I’m calling on the UK government to support and expand the subsidy scheme to ensure that children can drink milk in schools. This should be a key part of the UK government’s strategy to deal with the cost of living crisis.

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The consequences of not doing so could be hugely damaging to the physical and educational development of an entire generation of schoolchildren.

Without the school milk subsidy scheme, we risk increased child hunger and poverty – especially among poorer children – as well as jeopardising the other health benefits of regularly drinking milk at school.

The government claims that it has limited policy levers to pull to tackle the cost of living crisis; continuing to provide children with subsidised milk in schools should be at the top of the government’s agenda.

Dr Hilary Jones is a GP and a supporter of the School and Nursery Milk Alliance