Background In the UK, millions of children face poverty and food insecurity, exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis. Tower Hamlets, a diverse London borough, reflects the national crisis with 56% of children experiencing poverty. Universal free school meals are a key public policy aiming to mitigate health inequalities, offering a daily hot meal to every child attending schools in Tower Hamlets, although a gap remains between offer and uptake. Tower Hamlets council is implementing the Fantastic Food in Schools programme to improve school food quality, meal uptake and children’s healthy eating.

Methods Our Food Improvement Goals in Schools (FIGS) study explores factors influencing perceptions, experiences and resources around school food provision, qualitatively evaluating the council’s initiative. FIGS is part of the ActEarly programme funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership, informed by participatory principles and community health psychology. Our focused ethnography included six primary schools in Tower Hamlets. It comprised interviews with headteachers, school and kitchen staff (N=16), 19 parents, alongside 12 mini-groups using creative methods with 43 children and observational data (meal sharing with children, observing interventions). Data was analysed thematically using NVivo14.

Results Emerging top-line findings from all stakeholders highlight the positive reception of universal free school meals, breakfast clubs and interventions to mitigate food insecurity and promote children’s healthier eating. Further, more in depth findings focus on the material, relational and symbolic contexts shaping health knowledges and practices. Material context: structural barriers centre on food insecurity, policy prioritisation, budget constraints and proliferation of fast-food outlets. Relational context: healthy food interventions providing multisensorial exposure and enabling children’s participation broaden their awareness and interest. Parental engagement with schools was deemed crucial but challenging, with parent taster sessions regarded as key. Observations captured changes over time on menu improvements. Symbolic context: social dynamics around lunches reveal how role modelling and family dining styles can mitigate food waste. However, instances of children resisting certain meals highlight issues with preferences and food quality, contributing to food waste concerns. Children voiced their capabilities in experiences of interventions, preferences and suggestions that can extend healthy eating from school to home.

Conclusion Holistic and equitable school food provisioning models are endorsed, including parental engagement. Enhanced collaboration across delivery teams is encouraged. Children play a vital role in voicing their real-life and sensorial experiences, as direct beneficiaries of this policy. Their inclusion in the programme lays the groundwork for expansion in the borough and beyond.