Impacts on child dietary behaviours and health: Exploring school policy responses to the rise in cost of living

Approximately 7% of Welsh households experience food insecurity. The cost-of-living crisis is likely to increase pressures on households, with many families struggling to afford a healthy diet and health inequalities set to widen. The proposed PhD aims to examine the impact of the rise in the cost-of-living on children's dietary behaviours and health outcomes and explore school policy-level responses to pupil food insecurity throughout term time and school holidays. The proposed methodology will include secondary analyses of pupil and school-level datasets and primary data collection with schools participating in the School Health Research Network and Food and Fun programme.

Approvals will be sought from Cardiff University's School of Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee. Research conduct will be compliant with ESRC Research Ethics Framework and GDPR. The student will adhere to the University Lone Worker Policy, Safeguarding Policy, Researcher Integrity, and Code of Practice for those working with Children and Adults at Risk.