Free school meals as an approach to reduce health inequalities among 10–12- year-old Norwegian children

Vik, Frøydis Nordgård; Lippevelde, Wendy Van; Øverby, Nina Cecilie

doi:10.1186/s12889-019-7286-z

Cited by 27 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Importantly, our results suggest that school meals in Sweden may level out some of the well-known diet-related inequalities related to education. This aligns well with findings from Norway, where the introduction of free school meals was shown to increase the intake of healthy foods, especially among socioeconomically disadvantaged pupils (50) . In other high-income settings like Japan and the UK, school meals have also been shown to aid in narrowing socioeconomic inequalities in dietary intake (51)(52)(53) .…”

Section: Main Findingssupporting

confidence: 90%

The importance of school lunches to the overall dietary intake of children in Sweden: a nationally representative study

Colombo

Patterson

Elinder

et al. 2020

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective:School lunches have potential to foster healthy diets in all children, but data on their importance are relatively scarce. The current study aimed to describe the dietary intake from school lunches by sex and school grade, and to assess how the daily intake, school lunch intake and the daily intake provided by lunch differ by sex and parental education.Design:Cross-sectional. All foods and drinks consumed for 1–3 weekdays were self-reported. Energy, absolute and energy-adjusted intakes of nutrients and food groups were calculated per weekday and per school lunch. Mixed-effects linear models assessed sociodemographic differences in dietary intakes. Nutrient and energy density at lunch and during the rest of the day were compared.Setting:Seventy-nine Swedish primary schools.Participants:Pupils in grades 5 and 8 (N 2002), nationally representative.Results:Lunch provided around half of daily vegetable intake and two-thirds of daily fish intake. Nutrient density was higher and energy density lower at lunch compared with the rest of the day (P < 0·001). Boys had greater energy-adjusted intakes of red/processed meat and lower intakes of vegetables and dietary fibre compared with girls (P < 0·001), overall and at lunch. Daily energy-adjusted intakes of most nutrients/food groups were lower for pupils of lower-educated parents compared with pupils of parents with higher education, but at lunch, only Fe and fibre intakes were significantly lower in this group.Conclusions:School lunches are making a positive contribution to the diets of Swedish children and may mitigate well-established sex differences and social inequalities in dietary intake.

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Section: Main Findingssupporting

confidence: 90%

The importance of school lunches to the overall dietary intake of children in Sweden: a nationally representative study

Colombo

Patterson

Elinder

et al. 2020

Public Health Nutr.

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show abstract

“…The intervention consisted of a free school meal at lunch time served to children in the intervention group for one school year [33]. The school meal was prepared in accordance with current Norwegian dietary guidelines and consisted of whole grain bread (at least 50% whole grain), FV and several types of healthy spread.…”

Section: Interventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of a free healthy school meal on fruit, vegetables and unhealthy snacks intake in Norwegian 10- to 12-year-old children

et al. 2020

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Background Norwegian children have a lower intake of fruit, vegetables, and a higher intake of unhealthy snacks compared to dietary guidelines. Such dietary inadequacies may be detrimental for their current and future health. Schools are favorable settings to establish healthy eating practices. Still, no school meal arrangement is provided in Norway, and most children typically bring packed lunches from home. The aim of this study was to investigate whether serving a free healthy school meal for one year resulted in a higher intake of fruit and vegetables and a lower intake of unhealthy snacks in total among 10–12-year-olds in Norway. Methods The School Meal Project in Southern Norway was a non-randomized trial in two elementary schools in rural areas in the school year 2014/2015. The study sample consisted of 10- to 12-year-old children; an intervention group (N = 55) and a control group (N = 109) resulting in a total of 164 school children at baseline. A food frequency questionnaire was completed by the children at baseline, at five months follow-up and after one year to assess fruit, vegetable, and snacks intake. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to assess intervention effects on overall intake of fruit and vegetables and unhealthy snacks. Results Serving of a free healthy school meal for one year was associated with a higher weekly intake of vegetables on sandwiches in the intervention group compared to the control group, adjusted for baseline intake (B: 1.11 (95% CI: .38, 1.85)) at the end of the intervention. No other significant intervention effects were found for the remaining fruit and vegetables measures. Serving of a free healthy school meal was not associated with a lower weekly intake of unhealthy snacks (i.e. potato chips, candy, sugar sweetened beverages) in the intervention group compared to the control group. Conclusions A free healthy school meal was associated with a higher weekly intake of vegetables on sandwiches but did not significantly change any other investigated dietary behaviors. However, given the inadequate intake of vegetables among children and that even moderate improvements have public health relevance, a free healthy school meal for all school children could be beneficial. Trial registration ISRCTN61703361. Date of registration: December 3rd, 2018. Retrospectively registered.

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“…This gave a 96 % participation rate in the intervention group and a 67 % participation rate in the control group at baseline. A ow chart of the children's participation and those lost to follow up has been published elsewhere (33).…”

Section: Study Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of a free healthy school meal on fruit, vegetables and unhealthy snacks intake in Norwegian 10- to 12-year-old children

Vik

Heslien

Lippevelde

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: Norwegian children have a lower intake of fruit, vegetables, and a higher intake of unhealthy snacks compared to dietary guidelines. Such dietary inadequacies may be detrimental for their current and future health. Schools are favorable settings to establish healthy eating practices. Still, no school meal arrangement is provided in Norway, and most children typically bring packed lunches from home. The aim of this study was to investigate whether serving a free healthy school meal for one year resulted in a higher intake of fruit and vegetables and a lower intake of unhealthy snacks in total among 10-12-year-olds in Norway.Methods: The School Meal Project in Southern Norway was a non-randomized trial in two elementary schools in rural areas in the school year 2014/2015. The study sample consisted of 10- to 12-year-old children; an intervention group (N=55) and a control group (N=109) resulting in a total of 164 school children at baseline. A food frequency questionnaire was completed by the children at baseline, at five months follow-up and after one year to assess fruit, vegetable, and snacks intake. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to assess intervention effects on overall intake of fruit and vegetables and unhealthy snacks.Results: Serving of a free healthy school meal for one year was associated with a higher weekly intake of vegetables on sandwiches in the intervention group compared to the control group, adjusted for baseline intake (B: 1.11 (95% CI: .38, 1.85)) at the end of the intervention. No other significant intervention effects were found for the remaining fruit and vegetables measures. Serving of a free healthy school meal was not associated with a lower weekly intake of unhealthy snacks (i.e. potato chips, candy, sugar sweetened beverages) in the intervention group compared to the control group.Conclusions: A free healthy school meal was associated with a higher weekly intake of vegetables on sandwiches but did not significantly change any other investigated dietary behaviors. However, given the inadequate intake of vegetables among children and that even moderate improvements have public health relevance, a free healthy school meal for all school children could be beneficial.Trial registration:ISRCTN61703361 Date of registration: December 3rd, 2018Retrospectively registered

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Free school meals as an approach to reduce health inequalities among 10–12- year-old Norwegian children

Cited by 27 publications

References 27 publications

The importance of school lunches to the overall dietary intake of children in Sweden: a nationally representative study

The importance of school lunches to the overall dietary intake of children in Sweden: a nationally representative study

Effect of a free healthy school meal on fruit, vegetables and unhealthy snacks intake in Norwegian 10- to 12-year-old children

Effect of a free healthy school meal on fruit, vegetables and unhealthy snacks intake in Norwegian 10- to 12-year-old children

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