Dubai’s Healthy School Meals Initiative Targets 400,000 Students Across the Emirate
In a major move to improve children’s health and build lifelong habits, Dubai Municipality has launched a new initiative to promote healthy school meals in Dubai, aiming to transform how food is offered and consumed across educational institutions.
The “Promoting Healthy Nutrition in Educational Institutions” programme will aim to reach over 400,000 students in over 500 schools, nurseries, and universities throughout Dubai, guiding canteens and cafeterias toward sustainable, nutrient-rich food options.
This landmark initiative is part of a wider push to create a healthier, more sustainable food environment in UAE schools, focusing on better dietary habits, food safety, and reduced waste.
Smarter Nutrition and Food Education for Dubai Students
Designed as a fully integrated digital learning ecosystem, the initiative includes:
- A comprehensive e-learning system on food safety, nutrition, and sustainable consumption
- Gamified learning tools and progress assessments for students and staff
- Access to content for teachers and food suppliers to implement healthier food options
- Training courses for school administrators in 2025 to support proper implementation
Nutritionists will work hand-in-hand with school food suppliers to reassess and reform menus, ensuring compliance with UAE dietary standards and international best practices.
What’s on the Menu: More Whole Foods, Less Sugar
Schools will now be expected to serve nutrient-dense meals that support both physical and cognitive development. This includes:
- Increased servings of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains
- Lean protein options with reduced saturated fats
- Clear reduction of added sugars and heavily processed foods
- Promote water intake
- Reduce food waste and avoiding the use of single-use packaging materials
- Canteen oversight by trained staff and nutrition experts
- Planning sustainable menus using locally sourced ingredients whenever possible
By offering meals rich in essential vitamins and minerals, the initiative ensures that students receive the nutritional support they need for growth, focus, and academic success.
Moreover, at the third edition of the Dubai Food Safety Forum held on June 7th, Dubai Municipality also introduced further criteria to enhance school food environments. These include per-serving size regulations for better portion control and consistent food labelling, as well as limits on tea and coffee servings.
My School Food: A Digital Hub for Nutrition Education
Revealed at the Dubai Food Safety Forum 2025, the civic body also announced the launch of a dedicated digital learning platform—My School Food. This innovative e-learning tool uses interactive content and gamified learning to help students understand core food safety principles, such as ideal storage temperatures, personal hygiene, safe handling, and meal sustainability. This digitisation will create a robust ecosystem for all stakeholders – from caterers and educational institutions to parents, teachers, and students.
“Our material is based on games, and we teach them what food safety is,” said Dr. Naseem Mohammed Rafie, Acting CEO of the Environment, Health and Safety Agency at Dubai Municipality. “We educate them about the best temperature that you can keep food at, how to store food safely and other aspects of food safety which they can understand an implement easily. Children and youngsters are good ambassadors for ensuring safe practices.”
The My School Food platform allows students and teachers to explore modules on food hygiene, sustainable consumption, and healthy meal planning—all accessible from anywhere in the emirate.
Tailored dashboards and resources are available for each user group:
- Teachers can explore ready-made lesson plans, classroom activities, and guidance on addressing common nutrition challenges.
- Parents have access to short educational courses, healthy recipes, and meal-planning ideas.
- Food suppliers and caterers benefit from multilingual learning materials and video-based training content that helps ensure compliance with Dubai’s evolving food safety standards.
For students, gamified learning tools and interactive tutorials make complex topics like food safety and nutrition fun and accessible—promoting lifelong healthy habits from a young age.
To enhance the user experience, the platform also includes Ghalia, an AI-powered nutrition assistant. Ghalia acts as a smart chatbot, instantly responding to user queries related to school meals, nutritional guidelines, and safe food practices. My School Food is fully integrated into DM Checked, the upgraded version of Dubai’s long-standing Food Watch platform, offering a centralised space for all school food safety and nutrition initiatives in the UAE.
Empowering Champions: The Nutrition in Charge (NIC) Programme
To ensure consistent application of nutritional standards, Dubai Municipality has also implemented the Nutrition in Charge (NIC) programme across educational institutions. This initiative designates trained individuals—often nutritionists or health and safety officers—to oversee food quality, canteen staff training, and student wellbeing.
Under the Healthy school meals in Dubai programme, each NIC is responsible for:
- Ensuring nutritional compliance with government guidelines
- Promoting healthy eating habits through menus and school events
- Monitoring food quality and variety
- Addressing nutrition-related concerns from students or parents
- Providing ongoing training to canteen operators
“The initiative is a proactive move for educational institutions, as it promotes the adoption of sustainable and healthy food systems to raise healthy future generations,” said Sultan Al Taher, Director of the Food Safety Department at Dubai Municipality. “It reinforces children’s diets and lifestyles by recognising nutrition’s critical role in their development.”
Self-Auditing Tools and Smart Dashboards
To ensure schools maintain consistent nutritional standards, Dubai Municipality has introduced a robust self-auditing platform as part of the My School Food ecosystem. At the heart of this system is the School Food Audit System, which requires all catering companies serving educational institutions to register and undergo monthly audits.
Each audit is conducted by the designated Nutrition in Charge (NIC)—appointed either by the school or the catering company.
The platform offers:
- A smart dashboard that tracks each school’s compliance status and audit history
- An interactive Dubai map that displays real-time school nutrition compliance across the emirate
- A built-in checklist to guide schools through the audit process step-by-step
- Downloadable reports for documentation, menu review, and ongoing monitoring
Critically, the system enables real-time monitoring by food safety inspectors, who can track the audit history of each institution or supplier and base evaluations on up-to-date performance data. This not only streamlines oversight but also holds schools and vendors accountable for delivering consistent, high-quality nutrition aligned with Dubai’s updated food safety standards.
Real-Life Learning: From Cafeterias to Classrooms
Dubai Municipality has already begun hosting interactive lectures, activities, and food education workshops in schools across the city. These sessions include:
- Themed workshops on food and environmental awareness
- Hands-on activities on recycling and reducing food waste
- Over 300 students engaged in recent events promoting eco-friendly eating habits
By linking food choices with sustainability, the programme encourages children to adopt eco-conscious behaviour alongside healthier diets.
Healthy School Meals Dubai: A Blueprint for the Region
Dubai’s school nutrition strategy sets a strong precedent in the GCC. By embedding healthy school meals in Dubai as a core educational priority, the emirate is nurturing a generation that is both healthier and more informed.
This is not just about food—it’s about long-term impact. With continued support, training, and innovation, Dubai is redefining school nutrition for the future.
To read the complete update from Dubai Municipality, click here:
Further Reading:
- KHDA Pauses Inspections for 2025–26 as Dubai Evolves Quality Assurance in Education
- Dubai’s KHDA‑guided 2025‑2026 Academic Calendar is Now Live