Caterers blame media coverage of school dinners as the biggest factor behind falling school meal uptake, according to management accountant PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC).
The firm's findings showed that nearly three-quarters (73%) of primary school caterers and almost two-thirds (63%) of secondary contractors think TV and press coverage, including Jamie Oliver's TV series, is the root of the problem.
Geoffrey Harrison, managing director of school caterer Harrison's, agreed: "Most of the national press has taken the issues raised by Jamie Oliver and assumed it's happening everywhere, which it isn't."
According to PWC figures released at the Local Authority Caterers Association conference in Birmingham last week, uptake has dipped by an average of 2.6% to 42.3% at primary schools and 2.2% to 42.7% at secondary schools.
Other estimates put the average fall in school meal uptake as high as 10-12%.