Slovenian educational institutions have something that should not be taken for granted: a well-developed and professionally supported system of organized nutrition for children and adolescents, which represents an important public health pillar. Through organized meals, depending on the type of institution, a significant proportion of the daily energy and nutritional needs of children and adolescents is provided – from 30% in secondary schools to 75% in kindergartens [1].
Behind the quality of this system is much more than just providing meals. Its operation requires professional nutrition planning in accordance with children's nutritional needs and national guidelines, provision of medically indicated diets and food safety, implementation of public procurement, incorporation of local and organic foods and foods from quality schemes. An important part of the system is also monitoring food waste and nutrition education.
Such a system is the result of decades of professional development and represents an important achievement in the field of care for the nutrition of children and adolescents. That is precisely why we must protect it.
From Constitutional Review to Obligations of Educational Institutions
In July 2026, the Advocate of the Principle of Equality filed a request with the Constitutional Court to review the regulation of nutrition in kindergartens and schools [2]. He believes that the current regulation puts children who do not consume certain foods due to religion or world-view conviction at the level of religion in a disadvantaged position.
It is important to be precise: the Constitutional Court has not yet decided on this. Currently, we are talking about the Advocate's legal position and the request for constitutional review, not about an already established constitutional right to an individually religiously adapted meal.
Respect for religious freedom should not be subject to debate. An individual's right to follow their religious conviction in nutrition must be respected. However, it is important to distinguish between an individual's right to religious freedom and the right to organized nutrition in kindergartens and schools. The right to organized school nutrition does not derive directly from the Constitution, but is regulated by legislation[3]. Therefore, the question is not whether an individual's religious conviction should be respected. The question is whether respecting this conviction also means an obligation for the kindergarten or school to provide a religiously adapted meal.
At first glance, it may seem that religious adaptation of meals is relatively simple. However, in the system of organized nutrition, every additional adaptation affects several interconnected processes, from meal planning and food procurement to kitchen work organization, meal preparation and distribution. It should also be considered that Slovenia is home to members of various religious communities whose dietary rules and restrictions differ from each other. Religiously adapted nutrition therefore cannot be treated merely as a replacement of individual foods, but as an adaptation that affects the organization and implementation of nutrition as a whole.
That is precisely why the current constitutional review also raises a broader professional question:
How many different individual requirements can we include in the mass organized nutrition system without compromising its quality, safety and accessibility?
Between Growing Requirements and System Capacities
With the development of organized nutrition, professional and organizational requirements for its implementation have gradually expanded. Many have significantly contributed to higher quality nutrition for children. However, every new requirement, no matter how professionally justified and welcome, also requires appropriate conditions for its implementation.
The scope and complexity of tasks have increased, but staffing standards and other resources needed for their implementation have not adapted accordingly. The need to review and renew staffing standards is already being emphasized with the existing scope of tasks [4].
Individual kindergartens and schools are already today, within their capabilities, adapting to some dietary restrictions related to religious conviction, most commonly with the option of a pork-free meal. However, such adaptation in itself does not yet mean providing nutrition in accordance with all the rules of a particular religion. Religious dietary rules can be significantly broader than the exclusion of individual foods and also differ among individual religious communities.
It is important to distinguish between the capabilities of an individual institution and requirements set at the national level. What an individual institution can enable today within its capabilities becomes, with the introduction of a systemic obligation, something that all institutions must provide.
What Does Each New Obligation Mean in Practice?
What the transition from an individual institution's capability to a systemic obligation means can soon be observed also in the organization of school lunches. From September 1, 2027, an amendment to the School Nutrition Act will begin to apply, according to which all students who are regularly enrolled and register for lunch will be entitled to free lunch [5]. It is therefore justified to expect an increase in the number of students who will also use lunch at school, and consequently an increase in the number of daily prepared meals and the scope of work at all levels of school nutrition organization.
With each new requirement, we should therefore primarily ask how to integrate it into the existing system in a way that improves it rather than weakens it. Organized nutrition in educational institutions is a public nutrition system whose fundamental task is the daily provision of appropriate, quality, safe and nutritionally balanced nutrition to a large number of children. Individual needs are important, but they must be addressed within the framework of this fundamental task.
If a new requirement is to become an obligation for all educational institutions, we must know the answers to some very specific questions before its introduction. What exactly will the institution have to provide and how many different adaptations will this mean in practice? What additional staffing, spatial and organizational requirements will this bring? And who will provide the resources for their implementation?
These questions are all the more important because data from professional nutrition monitoring show deviations from healthy eating recommendations[6]. A more recent analysis of the implementation of nutritional guidelines also points to limitations that institutions face in their implementation, including staff shortages, employee overload and spatial limitations [4]. When introducing new requirements, it is therefore always necessary to assess how they will affect the implementation of already existing tasks.
The Quality of Organized Nutrition in Educational Institutions is Our Joint Responsibility
Healthy, safe and quality nutrition for children must remain our common goal. New needs and requirements are part of the development of organized nutrition, but their inclusion must also be followed by reflection on the conditions for quality implementation.
Every further upgrade of the system must therefore be planned thoughtfully and taking into account its actual capacities. Only in this way can we include new needs without gradually weakening precisely what we want to preserve – the quality of organized nutrition for all children.
References
- ZRSŠ, Smernice za prehranjevanje v vzgojno-izobraževalnih ustanovah. 2024: Ljubljana.
- Zagovornik načela enakosti, Zahteva za oceno ustavnosti. 2026, RS, Zagovornik načela enakosti.
- Zakon o šolski prehrani (ZŠolPre-1). 2013, Uradni list Republike Slovenije: Slovenija.
- Gregorič M., i.s., Analiza izvajanja prehranskih smernic v vzgojno-izobraževalnih zavodih. 2024, NIJZ: https://nijz.si/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/POROCILO_SOLSKA-ANKETA_koncno.pdf.
- Zakon o spremembah in dopolnitvah Zakona o šolski prehrani (ZŠolPre-1B), in 76/2023. 2023, Uradni list, RS: Slovenija. p. 6675.
- Toth, G., N. Dolinšek, and M. Gregorič, Strokovno spremljanje prehrane s svetovanjem v VIZ v letu 2018. 2019, NIJZ.