Over 40 leading doctors and health officials warned against cutting the budget for free school meals for infant pupils in England, saying it could worsen the country’s obesity problem.

In their letter to the Sunday Times, the group argued it could be “short-term thinking” to axe the universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) policy introduced September last year by the coalition government for all pupils in the first three school years in England. Infant schools provide publicly-funded education for children 4 to 7 years old.

According to reports, the policy could face cuts under the administration in the spending review this November. Chancellor George Osborne demands cuts of between 25 and 40 percent from unprotected budgets of every government office.

The free school meals budget, costing about £600 million or about $900 million each year, could be affected as it does not belong to the protected per-pupil schools budget.

“With one in three children currently leaving primary school overweight or obese, ensuring a healthy, nutritionally balanced school lunch has never been so important,” states the letter, which highlights a free healthy school lunch for children as “the bedrock of a transformative childhood obesity strategy.”

The experts added that a free school meals policy could eventually pay for itself “many times over” and reduce the mounting costs to the National Health Service of treating obesity and other diet-related conditions.

They listed health risks that could plague overweight and obese kids, including hypertension, insulin resistance, asthma, poor mental health and the early signs of heart disease.

The letter cites that only 1 percent of packed lunches meet the nutritional standards applying to school food, and that there is proof that kids consuming a healthy school lunch “consume more vegetables and fewer sugary drinks and crisps.”

The signatories include Professor Baroness Hollins, former president of the British Medical Association; Dr. Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation and representatives from charities Diabetes UK and the National Obesity Forum.

Professor Alan Smithers, director of Buckingham University’s Center for Education and Employment Research, said that while free school meals are a good safety net, the money may be “desperately needed elsewhere” and that advocates are “overstating their case” because of other meals that a child is eating during the week.

The emphasis should be educating and encouraging parents to serve healthy food to their children, added Smithers.

The spending review will be published on Nov. 25.

Photo: U.S. Department of Agriculture | Flickr