Food insecurity in the UK has been described as a ‘public health emergency’ (Furey, 2019, para. 1). With 19% of children under the age of 15 living in food insecure households (Environmental Audit Committee, 2019), the free school meal system in England plays an important role in ensuring children have regular access to a nutritious meal (Taylor, 2017). Additionally, many schools also provide children with breakfast, milk and fruit through various local and national schemes that exist to support children’s engagement in positive food habits (Micha et al., 2018).
Although food is considered a basic human right (General Assembly of the United Nations, 1948) and access to food for children should be facilitated by Government where families are unable to fulfil this need (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989), there are some groups of children for whom access to school food is prohibited due to Government policy stipulations. Research to date has sought to understand the benefits associated with engagement in school food interventions (e.g. Graham, Russo & Defeyter, 2015; Kitchen et al., 2013), however, research investigating the impacts of free school meal exclusion amongst particular low income groups as a result of specific food policy stipulations is lacking.
To address this gap in knowledge around free school meal exclusion, the current programme of research aims to: 1) analyse school food policy to understand which criteria lead to free school meal exclusion for children and young people; 2) identify which groups of children and young people within the education system are being excluded from free school meal entitlement; 3) investigate the potential health, social and educational implications of free school meal exclusion for children, young people and their families.
Eligibility and How to Apply:
Please note eligibility requirement:
· Academic excellence of the proposed student i.e. 2:1 (or equivalent GPA from non-UK universities [preference for 1st class honours]); or a Masters (preference for Merit or above); or APEL evidence of substantial practitioner achievement.
· Appropriate IELTS score, if required.
· Applicants cannot apply for this funding if currently engaged in Doctoral study at Northumbria or elsewhere.
For further details of how to apply, entry requirements and the application form, see
https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/research/postgraduate-research-degrees/how-to-apply/
Please note: Applications that do not include a research proposal of approximately 1,000 words (not a copy of the advert), or that do not include the advert reference (e.g. RDF21/…) will not be considered.
Deadline for applications: 29 January 2021
Start Date: 1 October 2021
Northumbria University takes pride in, and values, the quality and diversity of our staff. We welcome applications from all members of the community.
Informal enquiries to Dr Pamela L Graham ([Email Address Removed])
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