School Meals in Dublin's Inner City

Malnutrition and hunger can impair the learning process and influence behavioural patterns, It has also been recommended that lunch should provide one third of the daily requirement of nutrients as outlined in the recommended daily amounts (RDA). There is evidence which favours an even distribution of food intake throughout the day rather than the concentration of intake around one or two meals. This and other reasoning has led to the establishment of school meal programmes in many countries, including Ireland, which in turn gives rise to the need for periodic review and assessment of such programmes.