Design, testing and validation of an innovative web-based instrument to evaluate school meal quality

Patterson, Emma; Quetel, Anna-Karin; Lilja, Karin; Simma, Marit; Olsson, L.; Elinder, Liselotte Schäfer

doi:10.1017/s1368980012004211

Cited by 19 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…In 2010, an audit-and-feedback tool was developed by researchers and stakeholders (SkolmatSverige: School Food Sweden) to assess all of the elements of the meal experience ( Figure 1 ) [ 65 ]. The tool aims to aid the evaluation of the impact of the 2011 law, create a nationally representative database of school meal quality, and support schools to undertake their own monitoring and evaluation and thereby improve their own school meal quality.…”

Section: Swedish Preschool and Primary Meals Provisionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preschool and School Meal Policies: An Overview of What We Know about Regulation, Implementation, and Impact on Diet in the UK, Sweden, and Australia

et al. 2017

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School meals make significant contributions to healthy dietary behaviour, at a time when eating habits and food preferences are being formed. We provide an overview of the approaches to the provision, regulation, and improvement of preschool and primary school meals in the UK, Sweden, and Australia, three countries which vary in their degree of centralisation and regulation of school meals. Sweden has a centralised approach; all children receive free meals, and a pedagogical approach to meals is encouraged. Legislation demands that meals are nutritious. The UK system is varied and decentralised. Meals in most primary schools are regulated by food-based standards, but preschool-specific meal standards only exist in Scotland. The UK uses food groups (starchy foods, fruit and vegetables, proteins and dairy) in a healthy plate approach. Australian States and Territories all employ guidelines for school canteen food, predominantly using a “traffic light” approach outlining recommended and discouraged foods; however, most children bring food from home and are not covered by this guidance. The preschool standards state that food provided should be nutritious. We find that action is often lacking in the preschool years, and suggest that consistent policies, strong incentives for compliance, systematic monitoring, and an acknowledgement of the broader school eating environment (including home provided food) would be beneficial.

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Section: Swedish Preschool and Primary Meals Provisionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preschool and School Meal Policies: An Overview of What We Know about Regulation, Implementation, and Impact on Diet in the UK, Sweden, and Australia

et al. 2017

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“… f The Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test ( 31 ). g School food organization was studied with the e-tool School Food Sweden ( 35 ) in Sweden and adapted versions in the other countries. …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Different aspects of school food organization were evaluated in all countries with a validated instrument called School Food Sweden ( 35 ). The instrument consists of three levels/areas: 1) Variety, nutrition, and food safety; 2) Service, pedagogical thinking, and environmental impact; and 3) Organization and management.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

School meal provision, health, and cognitive function in a Nordic setting – the ProMeal-study: description of methodology and the Nordic context

Waling

Ólafsdóttir

Lagström

et al. 2016

Food & Nutrition Research

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BackgroundSchool meals, if both nutritious and attractive, provide a unique opportunity to improve health equality and public health.ObjectiveTo describe the study rationale, data collection, and background of participants in the study ‘Prospects for promoting health and performance by school meals in Nordic countries’ (ProMeal). The general aim was to determine whether overall healthiness of the diet and learning conditions in children can be improved by school lunches, and to capture the main concerns regarding school lunches among children in a Nordic context.DesignA cross-sectional, multidisciplinary study was performed in Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden on pupils (n=837) born in 2003.ResultsIn total 3,928 pictures of school lunches were taken to capture pupils’ school lunch intake. A mean of 85% of all parents responded to a questionnaire about socioeconomic background, dietary intake, and habitual physical activity at home. Cognitive function was measured on one occasion on 93% of the pupils during optimal conditions with a Stroop and a Child Operation Span test. A mean of 169 pupils also did an Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test after lunch over 3 days. In total, 37,413 10-sec observations of classroom learning behavior were performed. In addition, 753 empathy-based stories were written and 78 focus groups were conducted. The pupils had high socioeconomic status.ConclusionsThis study will give new insights into which future interventions are needed to improve pupils’ school lunch intake and learning. The study will provide valuable information for policy making, not least in countries where the history of school meals is shorter than in some of the Nordic countries.

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“…Such differences are important considerations in setting new directions for research. The contributions from Patterson et al (6) , Sidaner et al (7) , Gelli and Espejo (8) , Bundy et al (9) and Nelson (4) in this issue clearly show the wide variety in national approaches to school meal provision in countries and regions such as Sweden, Brazil, Africa, the USA and England. This variation should be taken into account when the impact of school practices on eating patterns, health status and other outcome measures are assessed.…”

Section: One Size Doesn't Fit All -Local Contexts Are Importantmentioning

confidence: 92%

Hunger, overconsumption and youth: future directions for research in school-based public health nutrition strategies

Mikkelsen

Ohri‐Vachaspati

2013

Public Health Nutr.

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The search for strategies that can counteract the alarming growth in obesity among youth has fuelled considerable interest among public health nutrition researchers, policy makers and practitioners to examine ways in which school-based food and nutrition approaches can be effectively utilized to promote healthful eating. Historically, in most parts of the world, school food programmes were started to address inadequate nutrition, improve school attendance and enhance children's ability to learn. In this issue, Ashe and Sonnino (1) eloquently articulate that today, as we contend with the full spectrum of malnutrition-from hunger to overconsumption-in the same population, a fuller understanding of the potential benefit that strong school-based public health nutrition strategies could bring to society is warranted. Consequently there is a need to set future directions for research in school-based strategies that can have implications for policy and practice for improving the health and wellbeing of children across the world. In particular, there is a need to reflect on a new paradigm that is emerging around school foods-the idea that schools should be considered 'protected spaces' where young people enjoy and experience healthy food and nutrition environments. This issue of Public Health Nutrition includes research articles on a broad range of topics related to health and school meal programmes. Based on this collective knowledge, below we identify themes and topics and propose a research agenda for school-based promotion of public health nutrition. Future research in this area should contribute new evidence to inform policy and develop strategies that take advantage of the opportunities that schools offer as a health-promoting setting.

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Design, testing and validation of an innovative web-based instrument to evaluate school meal quality

Cited by 19 publications

References 12 publications

Preschool and School Meal Policies: An Overview of What We Know about Regulation, Implementation, and Impact on Diet in the UK, Sweden, and Australia

Preschool and School Meal Policies: An Overview of What We Know about Regulation, Implementation, and Impact on Diet in the UK, Sweden, and Australia

School meal provision, health, and cognitive function in a Nordic setting – the ProMeal-study: description of methodology and the Nordic context

Hunger, overconsumption and youth: future directions for research in school-based public health nutrition strategies

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