Child Obesity, School Food Environments and the Best Interests of the Child

This article is about child obesity, school food, and the key role schools can play in creating environments that can enhance children’s eating patterns and lifestyle behaviours and, thus, can support the realization of children’s best interest in relation to food and health. In contrast to the traditional approach that frames the obesity problem as a personal issue or as a matter of parental responsibility, this article argues that the prevention of child obesity should be interpreted as a State obligation under both international and domestic laws. Analysis turns to the example of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, adopted in the United States in 2010 to provide healthier schools nutrition standards, and its most recent rollback by the Trump administration. As in such a case, whenever governments may fail to fulfill their obligations due to political changes or conflicting interests, the article argues that schools can become agents of change by fostering environments that increase children’s daily consumption of healthier food and promote physical activit