In October 2018 UNICEF Canada released UNICEF Report Card 15: Youth-Friendly
The authors polled young people in Canada to seek their perspectives on various issues relating to education.
When they asked young people to share their thoughts on school meal programs youth they heard that:
Most young people (64%) say their school doesn’t have a meal program.
A large number of young people (70%) say they think students in their schools would benefit from a school meal program.
Most young people (69%) would use a school meal program if their school had one.
Of the young people who say they wouldn’t use a school meal program, most (65%) say it’s because they don’t need one. About a third (29%) say they wouldn’t use it because others need it more. 6% say they worry about what others would think – for these few there may be a stigma attached to school meal programs.
The report then states that "A universal healthy school food program in Canada would give every child at least one healthy meal or snack every day, with many benefits to learning, physical and mental health and relationships at school." (Page 27)