Every day, 20,000 teenagers in 37 Bradford secondary schools tap a card to pay for lunch, and researchers want to use that data to understand what drives their food choices. Most studies of school food rely on small, short-term surveys or self-reported diets, which miss the full picture. This project links the daily, real-world records from cashless catering systems—every meal a student buys—with detailed health and wellbeing data from the Born in Bradford Age of Wonder study. That combination gives researchers a rare, objective view of what adolescents actually eat at school, not just what they say they eat. If successful, the Food in Bradford Schools study will show how to turn routine catering data into a powerful research tool. Schools and caterers could use the insights to identify students who may be food insecure or at risk of eating disorders, and to target healthier menu options where they are needed most. The approach could be replicated across the UK, giving policymakers a sustainable way to track the real-world impact of school food policies over time, without adding extra burden on students or staff.
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Context Born in Bradford (BiB) Age of Wonder (AoW) is a seven-year project collecting data on 20,000 teenagers in 37 secondary schools across Bradford, UK, to understand how their health and wellbeing develops as they grow into adulthood. Diet is central to good health and adolescent diet is characterised by a decrease in quality and increase in energy intake, which contributes to increases in diet related disease, including obesity. Schools are an important setting to support healthy dietary behaviours but much of the existing school food research is limited by truncated data collection periods, small sample sizes, self-report measures, and self-selection biases. This leads to a lack of representative data, and subsequently a lack of actionable insights. Cashless catering systems, which capture students’ school food choices every day, signify a greatly under-utilised resource and a crucial opportunity not only for school food research, but for applied health research in general. Aims and objectives The Food in Bradford Schools (FIBS) study will begin by exploring feasible approaches to link cashless catering data from all Bradford secondary schools to AoW survey data using unique pupil numbers (UPNs). This will provide an invaluable and unique opportunity to understand the school food choices of Bradford’s adolescents. Once established, this study will build on existing partnerships with schools, caterers and students to explore students’ food choice behaviours, identify school food priorities, and co-design local actions within schools. Applications and benefits This study has applications and benefits for several parties, notably schools, caterers, students, researchers, and policy-makers: Schools, Caterers & Students: For schools and caterers, the study will: (1) provide data-driven insights to support procedural decisions on school food, (2) support efforts to positively encourage healthy school food choices. For example, linking food choices and AoW survey data will help to identify students who are food insecure, students with eating disorders, students attending schools in deprived areas, and examine how these relate to school food choice. In making these links, and informing future targeted interventions, the FIBS study has potential to influence policies that support healthy dietary behaviours amongst the most vulnerable young people. Students will also benefit from having their voice heard as equal partners via involvement in our advisory panel and participation in qualitative workshops. Researchers: This study will showcase the utility of cashless catering data for research, providing a much needed sustainable approach to gather dietary behaviour data within schools, an approach that can be replicated in other schools across the UK. Through linking cashless catering data, this study can potentially establish a rich data source for years to come, fostering interdisciplinary collaborations and joined-up working. Policy-makers: The routine nature of cashless catering data means it can help track and evaluate school and district-level policies over time (e.g. creating an eating well culture and tackling food insecurity are core outcomes of the Bradford District Good Food Strategy 2023). Through our dissemination efforts and existing links, findings will be communicated to national organisations (e.g., Food Foundation, Citizens UK) to inform and support school food policies and practices.
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