Healthy food in schools can help children develop healthy dietary habits for life, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which released a new global guideline on evidence-based policies and interventions to create healthy school food environments. For the first time, WHO is advising countries to adopt a whole-school approach that ensures food and beverages provided in schools and available throughout the broader school food environments are healthy and nutritious. In the guideline, WHO recommends that schools improve food provision at schools to promote greater consumption of foods and beverages that support a healthy diet. According to the WHO Global database on the Implementation of Food and Nutrition Action (GIFNA), as of October 2025, 104 Member States had policies on healthy school food, with almost three quarters including mandatory criteria to guide the composition of school food. This work forms a cornerstone of WHO’s broader mission to create healthy food environments, and is implemented as part of global initiatives such as WHO acceleration plan to stop obesity and the nutrition-friendly schools initiative.