As the Turkey School Meal Coalition, last week we held a workshop advocating for one free meal and clean water for children. At the workshop, we emphasized that malnutrition affects children’s physical, mental, and intellectual development, urging the immediate implementation of school meal programs in schools. However, that same evening, during a TV program, Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin dismissed the issue of child malnutrition, instead redirecting “needy” families to the Governor’s offices, thereby shirking responsibility.
Although Minister Yusuf Tekin did not acknowledge that children are not receiving adequate nutrition at school, in 2020, representatives from the Family, Labor, and Social Services Ministry and the Health Ministry attended a meeting of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey’s Petition Committee and vividly presented the issue of stunted growth and obesity due to malnutrition in the country.
‘There is a malnutrition problem’
The date was January 16, 2020. AKP Deputy Mihrimah Belma Satır, chair of the TBMM Petition Committee, opened the 9th sub-committee meeting on methods to combat obesity and the investigation of malpractice claims related to surgical procedures, as well as identifying preventive measures. At the meeting, Dr. Nazan Yardım, Head of the Active Life Department of the Health Ministry, took the floor. I quote from the minutes:
“There is also a malnutrition problem in Turkey. Stunting—chronic malnutrition, which can be thought of as children being subjected to chronic hunger—is at 2.3% in Turkey overall, but in the west, this rate drops to 1%. However, in the east, we see the opposite trend. In the East, stunting rises to 3.5%, and in the Southeastern Anatolia region, it reaches 5.4%. I didn’t include it here, but in boys, the rate is 6%, and in girls, it’s 5.5%. These are significant figures; we don’t see anything like this in any European country. In children aged 7–8 years, we do not observe these stunting rates of 6% and 5.5% in this region, nor the levels of malnutrition."
‘The school meal program should be launched immediately’
Dr. Nazan Yardım highlighted the importance of school meals by citing data on obesity and stunting caused by malnutrition, supporting her argument with international case studies:
"First of all, as the Health Ministry, we believe the school meal program should be urgently launched in our country. The United States has been implementing a school meal program since 1946, and last year, 30 million children benefited from it. In America, they even started breakfast programs and summer school meal programs to prevent children from going hungry when schools are closed. Similarly, in England, since the 1920s, the National Education Ministry has been providing school meals to all children. All countries in the European Union with a unified education system have school meal programs. Japan provides school meals to 10 million children, and as you may recall from the slides I shared earlier, in our country, we have children who are both obese and malnourished."
‘The Health Ministry also analyzed three-course meals’
After referencing international examples, Dr. Nazan Yardım proposed a plan for implementing a school meal program in Turkey:
"At the very least, for primary school children, the Health Ministry has conducted the analysis for a three-course meal and has completed a feasibility study. We’ve shared the necessary budget with the Finance Ministry and the National Education Ministry, and the school meal program was fortunately included in the strategic plan of the Presidency and the last development plan as one of the strategic tasks the National Education Ministry would undertake. Hopefully, in the coming years…”
AKP Deputy Mihrimah Belma Satır, chair of the Petition Committee, asked Dr. Nazan Yardım whether the school meal program would be implemented as a pilot or nationwide. Dr. Nazan Yardım responded:
“Our recommendation was this: if the Finance Ministry and our state can afford it, the program should cover the entire country because obesity is also present in the west, as you know, and this is essential for the healthy nutrition of children. A soup, a main course, a fruit, milk, or yogurt—served alternately—would be sufficient. It doesn’t have to be a four-course meal like ours, but given the budget constraints—we have 6 million primary school students, and if you include middle and high school students, nearly 18 million children. If the state can afford to cover pre-school and the 6 million children, great, but if not, our suggestion is to support poor children—just like in England, where the government supports children from low-income families, while families who can afford it provide for their own children. If this approach is not preferred, then perhaps the government could prioritize certain regions based on its budget…”
‘People are eating more bread due to poverty’
Dr. Nazan Yardım also made a striking statement, noting that 25% of women, or one in four, suffer from anemia in Turkey, while the rate is 5% among men, and 13% in the general population. She offered this explanation:
“People are eating more bread due to poverty, but they aren’t eating good bread, and then these children come to school, and in front of the National Education Ministry and the Health Ministry, we have malnourished, sick children. The Health Ministry is doing its job; the child comes to the hospital, gets treated, and is sent back, but you know, that’s not how it works.”
At the meeting, Hulusi Armağan Yıldırım, Head of the Department of Disabled Care Services, noted that malnutrition is also among the causes of disability. Meanwhile, İsmail Çolak, Director General of Support Services at the National Education Ministry, said that meals were provided in schools with transportation, and he shared this striking statement about plans for students who do not eat at school:
“There will be a gradual transition for students who do not eat as part of the School Meal Program; if a budget issue is resolved, hopefully, this will be ready for the 2020–2021 school year.”
Despite being fully aware of the widespread nature of malnutrition, anemia, stunted growth, and obesity in Turkey, neither the Health Ministry nor the National Education Ministry implemented the nationwide “School Meal” program by 2020–2021. Nor did they achieve their goal of reducing chronic hunger, stunted growth, and obesity by 5–10%. Poverty has deepened, and the rates of stunting and obesity have risen.
According to 2022 data from the World Food Program, 14.8 million people in Turkey, representing 18% of the country's population of 82.3 million, are malnourished. The 2023 United Nations Sustainable Development Report shows that the prevalence of malnutrition in Turkey is 2.5%, and the stunting rate among children under five is 5.5%.
The results I have obtained by reviewing national and international research on malnutrition are as follows:
- Malnutrition negatively affects children’s mental and physical development.
- Malnutrition affects children’s educational potential, learning capacity, and quality of life.
- Malnutrition leads to infant and child mortality.
- Malnutrition reduces the body’s resistance to infectious diseases and makes chronic diseases permanent.
- Malnutrition causes learning difficulties.
- Many people who experience learning difficulties are facing learning poverty due to malnutrition.
- It has been found that individuals with learning difficulties are more likely to suffer from malnutrition.
TurkStat, in collaboration with UNICEF Turkey, recently published the "Children in Statistics, 2023" report. The number of children living in material poverty in 2023 was 7 million 34 thousand, while the child labor rate was 22.1%. If we go back to 2020, the child labor rate was 16.2%, meaning child labor has increased by 6% in three years.
‘People are eating more bread due to poverty’
Dr. Nazan Yardım also made a striking statement during her speech, noting that anemia affects 25%, or one in four, women in Turkey, 5% of men, and 13% of the total population. She provided this explanation regarding the cause:
“People are eating more bread due to poverty, but they aren’t eating good bread, and then these children come to schools, and we, along with the National Education Ministry, are faced with malnourished, sick children. The Health Ministry is doing its job; the child comes to the hospital, gets treated, and is sent home, but as you know, that’s not how things work.”
At the meeting, Hulusi Armağan Yıldırım, Head of the Department of Disabled Care Services, stated that malnutrition is also among the causes of disability. İsmail Çolak, Director General of Support Services at the National Education Ministry, explained the plans for students who do not eat as part of the school meal program with the following notable words:
“There will be a gradual transition for students who do not eat, as part of the School Meal Program. Hopefully, if the budget issue is resolved, this will be implemented in the 2020–2021 academic year.”
Despite being aware of the widespread reality of malnutrition, anemia, stunted growth, and obesity in Turkey, neither the Health Ministry nor the National Education Ministry implemented the nationwide "School Meal" program they planned for 2020–2021. Nor did they reduce chronic hunger, stunted growth, and obesity by the targeted 5–10%. Poverty deepened, and the rates of stunting and obesity increased.
According to 2022 data from the World Food Program, 14.8 million people in Turkey—18% of the population of 82.3 million—are malnourished. The 2023 United Nations Sustainable Development Report indicates that the prevalence of malnutrition in Turkey is 2.5%, with stunting among children under five at 5.5%.
Here are the conclusions I’ve drawn from reviewing national and international studies on malnutrition:
- Malnutrition negatively affects children’s mental and physical development.
- Malnutrition impacts children’s educational potential, learning capacity, and quality of life.
- Malnutrition leads to infant and child mortality.
- Malnutrition weakens the body’s resistance to infectious diseases and makes chronic illnesses permanent.
- Malnutrition causes learning difficulties.
- Many individuals who face learning difficulties are also confronted with learning poverty due to malnutrition.
- It has been found that individuals with learning difficulties are more likely to experience malnutrition.
In collaboration with UNICEF Turkey, TurkStat recently published the "Children in Statistics, 2023" report. In 2023, the number of children living in material poverty reached 7 million 34 thousand, while the rate of child labor increased to 22.1%. In comparison, the child labor rate was 16.2% in 2020, marking a 6% increase in just three years.
The reasons for the rise in child labor, poverty, and malnutrition can be traced back to the deepening wealth gap between the rich and poor due to neoliberal policies.
And the ones responsible—those who organize research and meetings just for the records, remembering poverty and stunted children only “from election to election”—are the false politicians.
I don’t know if Dr. Nazan Yardım still believes that school meals should urgently move beyond "virtual or verbal healthy food" presentations by the Health Ministry and be implemented in all schools. But let’s end with her words: “We are faced with malnourished and sick children. The Health Ministry is doing its job; the child comes to the hospital, gets treated, and is sent home, but as you know, that’s not how things work.”
Indeed, that’s not how things work. Children continue to suffer from malnutrition, and they go to school hungry—this is why we need a school meal program immediately! (HF/VK)
