Holiday Hunger: A mixed-methods research evaluation framework (HLS/DRFPYC7P/62012)

According to the Department of Health (2005) food poverty is ‘the inability to afford or to have access to food to make up a healthy diet’ (p7). Currently there are over half a million children in the UK living in households in food poverty. Moreover, 93% of adults living in these households skipped meals to ensure that their children could eat properly (Poverty and Social Exclusion: UK, 2013). During the school term free school meals act as a safeguard for many such children, however this safeguard is not in place over the school holidays. Given that children’s food intake is vital to their health status as well as their ongoing development (Nord & Hopwood, 2007), children’s dietary habits during school holidays warrant attention. Currently there are no published studies that have investigated the impact of this food provision on key developmental outcomes relating to children’s health, wellbeing and educational attainment. The aim of this PhD programme is to investigate participation in summer feeding programmes, from across the UK, in terms of the impact on health, wellbeing, education and social outcomes for children and families. In order to meet these aims demographic data will be collected alongside data on a number of additional variables including: referral routes, type of holiday hunger provision, food provided and food wastage, educational and support activities offered, SAT’s, and health-related behaviours. The study will also consider the views of key stakeholders, including parents and the child’s voice, through age appropriate qualitative methods such as interviews and focus groups. In order to examine impact and sustainability data on a number of measures will be collected pre and post-intervention alongside data from matched school control groups. Triangulation of data collected from this mixed-methods design will enable the research team to develop a research framework utilising the Theory of Change.