Education-Is report revealed malnutrition in children: Every fifth student skips at least one meal

Education and Science Employees' Union (Eğitim-İş) published a report titled "Student's Food is the Public Responsibility". In the written statement on the subject, it was stated that if 1.36 percent of the central government budget is allocated, all 15.2 million students in pre-school and compulsory education can be provided with a free meal every school day for an academic year.

The report stated that one in every five 15-year-old students in Turkey skips at least one meal a week due to financial difficulties and that Turkey ranks first among OECD countries with this rate. Citing 2025 data from the European Statistical Office, it was noted that 37.6 percent of children under the age of 18 are at risk of poverty or social exclusion and that Turkey ranks first among European countries in this field.

The report stated that, according to TÜİK's 2022 data, the rate of children who can consume meat, chicken or fish every day is 12.7 percent.

In the report, which states that school meals are not a social aid but an integral part of the right to education, it is emphasized that it is the state's constitutional obligation to provide healthy nutritional conditions to students and that "We do not accept the excuses of 'insufficient budget, no resources' that have been put forward for years. There is no resource problem; there is a clear, conscious political choice."

"DINING HOUSES SHOULD BE SPACIOUS WHERE CHILDREN CAN EAT TOGETHER AND WITHOUT HURRYING"

The following demands and suggestions were listed in the report:

"In all public schools, every student, without exception, should be provided with a free, hot meal every school day. This right should be guaranteed by law; a regulation should be made that will not disappear with the change of governments. The program should be included in the Ministry of Education's budget as its own and permanent item.

Free, safe and easily accessible drinking water should be an integral part of the programme. Menus should be prepared by nutritionists according to a binding national nutritional standard; Safe alternatives should be offered for needs such as celiac, diabetes and food allergy.

Dining halls should be spacious enough for children to eat together without rushing; School meal programs should also be designed to support children's socialization and the relationships they establish at school.

One meal is not a burden that this country cannot afford. Children going hungry is a cost we cannot afford."