By Milliam Murigi
Across Kenya, flashy billboards and online adverts are turning school meals into marketing bait. Private schools proudly showcase menus of chips, sausages, chapatis and sodas as symbols of modern care.
To many parents, such promises sound appealing. A school that not only teaches but also feeds their children “well.” But behind the glossy adverts and enticing menus lies a growing health concern.
Kenya’s schools are slowly becoming breeding grounds for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.
“The menu influenced my decision when I was looking for a school for my daughter. I liked that they serve chips, eggs, and juice regularly. It felt like value for money. But lately, I’ve noticed she rarely wants ugali or vegetables at home,” says Grace Wambui, a parent at one private school in Kiambu county.
Her daughter’s school is not the only one offering such meals. Across the country, most private schools are serving students ultra-processed, calorie-dense meals as part of a “modern school experience.” Parents, eager to give their children a taste of comfort, are unknowingly buying into a lifestyle that harms their children’s long-term health.
The reason is, regular consumption of ultra-processed foods increases body fat and cholesterol levels, leading to childhood obesity, which predisposes individuals to type 2 diabetes and hypertension at a young age and raises the risk of cardiovascular diseases and certain cancers in adulthood.
“Some schools advertise junk meals to attract middle-class parents who associate Western diets with status and care. But this trend is fuelling unhealthy eating habits that persist into adulthood,” says Zipporah Bukania, a nutrition scientist at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI).
According to James Kimani, a private school proprietor, inclusion of foods like chips and sausages on his school’s menu is a decision driven by demand from both parents and students. He maintains that the goal is not to promote unhealthy eating but to ensure that children feel comfortable, satisfied, and motivated to learn.
“We serve these foods because that’s what most children are used to at home. Parents want their children to enjoy school and feel comfortable. We try to balance by including fruits and vegetables, but if we completely remove the popular foods, many parents might feel dissatisfied,” says Kimani.
He adds that his school is open to adjusting menus if national nutrition guidelines are introduced, noting that schools alone cannot fight these habits it has to start from homes too.
According to Bukania, it is not only the school meals that are fuelling unhealthy eating habits, even the school environment is also contributing to this. For example, in many public schools, children are served with meals such as githeri, rice and lentils and ugali and vegetables that are simple, affordable, and nutritious. However, not all parents can afford the school meal fees, forcing some to give their children a few coins to buy food from nearby vendors.
“Around many schools, you’ll find vendors selling fried foods, sugary drinks, and pastries,” Bukania explains. “These are the cheapest and most accessible options and they too are silently driving Kenya’s NCD story up.
She explains that these vendors have gone a notch higher to make their business very practical for school-going children, offering food based on the amount of money one has. This easy access encourages pupils to prefer these snacks over healthier school meals
“Some even tell their parents they don’t like the food provided at school just to get money for snacks. Because these foods are easily available and within reach, the environment itself promotes unhealthy eating,” she says.
According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS), childhood obesity is steadily rising, particularly in urban areas where private schools dominate. The reason is that children are consuming more fried and sugary foods, while traditional, nutrient-rich options are being sidelined as “poor people’s food.”
According to Wambui, this change in diet patterns is not accidental. Schools are now competing for enrollment by offering meals that appeal to children’s taste buds, unlike before, when academic performance and discipline were the main determinants in parents’ school choices.
And the outcome of this is already visible, according to Bukania. The country is already seeing the effects of such environments on children’s health. At the moment, about 39 percent of all deaths in health facilities are related to NCDs. What’s even more worrying is that over half of these cases now affect people below 40 years, meaning the next generation is at risk.
“School environment plays a crucial role in shaping lifelong eating habits. What children are exposed to daily, whether it’s healthy school meals or the fried snacks sold right outside the gate, determines the kind of choices they’ll make as adults. If we normalize junk food in schools, we’re nurturing a generation that sees unhealthy eating as the norm,” says Bukania.
She reveals that the problem doesn’t stop at what children eat, it’s also about how little they move. Before smartphones and streaming, children could eat and then burn the calories while playing but now, we have a generation that is always glued to screens. That inactivity, combined with unhealthy diets, is creating a silent epidemic of obesity, diabetes, and even hypertension among school-age children.
As a country what policy exist for regulating school feeding programs? Bukania says that Kenya the Ministry of Health is actually working on policies and legal frameworks to address the school environment and access to some of these processed foods. The framework will also regulate the sale and marketing of processed foods in and around schools. However, the process is still in its early stages. It will require strong advocacy because these are also people’s businesses.
Her recommendations? There is a need to develop school feeding standards to ensure that every child, regardless of the type of school they attend, has access to nutritious and affordable meals. She also emphasizes the importance of sensitizing school administrators, especially private school owners on the long-term dangers of unhealthy food.
