• The polling comes as part of World School Milk Day 2023 - on Wednesday 27^th September - which celebrates the health benefits of children drinking milk in schools and nurseries.
• The new research from YouGov was commissioned by trade body the School and Nursery Milk Alliance (SNMA)
• TV’s Dr Hilary Jones has called for government action to ensure that children in schools and nurseries across the UK can access the free, nutritious milk to which they are entitled.

Four out of five UK adults (79%) think children should have access to free or subsidised milk in schools and nurseries, according to new polling.

The research come as part of World School Milk Day 2023 which celebrates the benefits of healthy and nutritious school milk, and this year falls on Wednesday 27^th September.

The School and Nursery Milk Alliance (SNMA) commissioned YouGov to poll 2,156 adults across the UK to understand opinion on the importance of school milk provision and the results are startling:

• Nine out of ten (88%) of 2019 Labour voters think the Government should provide free or subsidised milk for children in schools and nurseries.
• Support for milk in schools and nurseries is nationwide but the Welsh public in particular believing that the Government should continue to provide free or subsidised milk for children in schools and nurseries (89%). The Welsh public’s enthusiasm is perhaps not surprising as Wales is unique amongst UK nations in providing free healthy milk for all children in Key Stage One, rather than just subsidising it.

Further research from the SNMA finds that England leads the way amongst UK nations when it comes to school milk provision this year, providing an average of 116 servings of milk per pupil and topping the SNMA’s annual UK league table. Last year’s winner, Wales, came second with 73 servings of milk per pupil this year.

Unfortunately, there are still far too many children who are missing out on free or subsidised milk when at school or nursery. Following the aftermath of the covid pandemic, many education settings are still yet to re-start their milk schemes, meaning that many children are missing out.

School food standards require lower fat milk or lactose reduced milk to be available to drink at least once a day during school hours. Unfortunately, far too many schools and nurseries are unaware of the different available programmes that could be giving their pupils free healthy milk. To assist with the cost of providing milk, schools can take part in:

• Nursery Milk Scheme, led by DHSC, providing free milk to children under the age of 5
• School Milk Subsidy Scheme, managed and topped up by DEFRA, providing subsidised milk for all pupils children between five and 11 years old attending Ofsted-registered schools

School milk is a healthy and tasty option for children. A review of evidence by Northumbria University concluded that drinking milk may support immediate and lasting dental and bone health in 5–11 year-old children and it has a positive effect on preventing childhood obesity. The research showed that milk supports children’s cognition, particularly when served as a mid-morning snack, as it staves off hunger until lunchtime.

Dr Hilary Jones said: “Drinking milk on a regular basis improves health outcomes for children and yet millions are missing out through a simple lack of awareness of the available government schemes. There are numerous programmes available for children in schools and nurseries to access free healthy milk but the take up is too low.

“World School Milk Day 2023 is the perfect opportunity for the Government to ensure that schools and nurseries across the UK are aware of the different schemes that exist. The Government must encourage them to sign up to ensure that millions of children across the country can drink free healthy milk when at school. “

Jon Thornes MBE, Chair of SNMA, said: “It is heartening that so many people across the UK believe it is important that school children can drink free or subsidised milk when attending an education setting. Unsurprisingly, an enormous majority of the British public also want the Government to continue to provide free or subsidised milk for children in schools and nurseries.

“We urge the Government to do all it can to ensure that as many education settings are signed up to the available milk schemes so that as many children as possible are able to drink healthy milk at school or nursery. And all UK nations need to follow Wales’s positive example and do more to ensure that as many children as possible are able to drink healthy milk at school or nursery”.