School dinners: BMA calls for free meals for all children up to P3

All Northern Ireland schoolchildren aged from four to seven should be entitled to free school meals, a doctors' organisation has said.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has also called for school fruit and vegetable schemes, similar to those in England, to be implemented by Stormont.

Dr Paul Darragh, from the BMA's board of science said poor diets were causing sickness and putting strain on the NHS.

He said school meals could help to establish healthier eating patterns.

"Doctors are increasingly concerned about the impact of poor diet on patient's health, which is not only a significant cause of ill health and premature death, but a considerable drain on NHS resources," Dr Darragh said.

"It is critical that healthy eating patterns are established when people are young and we believe that providing a healthy meal to children every day will help establish those patterns.

"Evidence suggests that universal provision of free school means is beneficial towards this."

At present, the service is means-tested and only children whose parents are in receipt of benefits, or whose household income falls below the threshold are entitled to free meals.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for Northern Ireland's Department of Education said additional funding for a scheme like the free school meals initiative in England had not been earmarked because of the "emerging pressures" on the Stormont Executive.

"While there are currently no plans to extend free school meals to all children aged seven and under in the north of Ireland, the eligibility criteria for free school meals has been extended in recent years to ensure that healthy, nutritious meals are available to a greater number of working families on low income," she added.

"This extension has resulted in an additional 35,000 pupils becoming eligible to free school meals."