Warm food at school can keep children nourished, educated and in the classroom until they are ready to graduate.

Thursday 15 March is International School Meals Day, which aims to raise awareness of good nutrition for all children regardless of their circumstances. School meals are an integral part of the World Food Programme (WFP)’s work— a daily school meal can mean not only better nutrition and health, but also increased access to and achievement in education. Here we take a look at their impact in Nepal, and the further benefits they might provide.

In Far Western Nepal, boys and girls have very different childhoods. Boys eat first, are given more food than their sisters, do less housework and marry later.

For girls, marriage and not school work can dominate their childhoods. Nepal is home to the third highest levels of child marriage in Asia. Thirty seven percent of girls marry before the age of 18, and 10 percent marry before they are 15. The legal age for marriage in Nepal is 20.