Department of Clinical Nutrition, Food and Health Research Centre, University of Eastern Finland, PO Box 1627, 70211 Kuopio, Finland.
Public Health Nutr. 2011 Dec;14(12):2092-8. doi: 10.1017/S1368980011001388. Epub 2011 Jul 14.
To explore how the quality of school lunch consumed reflected overall eating patterns in school-aged children.
Children filled in an Internet-based questionnaire about their eating patterns. The children were then divided into balanced and imbalanced school lunch eaters on the basis of their responses in the questionnaire. A balanced school lunch consisted of, by the definition used in the present study, a main dish, salad and bread.
Eleven primary schools and one middle school in eastern Finland.
A total of 531 schoolchildren (247 boys and 284 girls) aged 11-16 years.
The school lunch was balanced in 46·5% of children. Eating a balanced school lunch was associated with overall healthier eating patterns outside school. Children who ate a balanced school lunch had more regular meal times and consumed healthier snacks. They ate fruit or berries and vegetables, dairy products and wholegrain foods more often, consumed fewer salty snacks, pizzas, meat pies and drank fewer soft drinks and energy drinks. Their eating patterns at home were also healthier, with vegetables being offered at every family dinner and fruit being offered daily, whereas soft drinks were offered seldom.
The choices made by children in their school lunch reflect the overall eating patterns among school-aged children. Eating a balanced school lunch is associated with more regular meal patterns, the availability of healthier foods at home and an overall healthier diet, suggesting that healthy eating patterns are learnt at home.
探讨在校儿童所食用的学校午餐质量如何反映其整体的饮食模式。
儿童通过网络填写一份关于其饮食模式的问卷。然后，根据他们在问卷中的回答，将儿童分为均衡和不均衡的学校午餐食用者。根据本研究的定义，均衡的学校午餐包括主菜、沙拉和面包。
芬兰东部的 11 所小学和 1 所中学。
共有 531 名 11-16 岁的学童（男 247 名，女 284 名）。
46.5%的儿童食用均衡的学校午餐。在校外，均衡食用学校午餐与整体更健康的饮食模式有关。食用均衡学校午餐的儿童用餐时间更规律，食用更健康的零食。他们更常食用水果或浆果、蔬菜、乳制品和全谷物食品，较少食用咸零食、比萨饼、肉馅饼，并且较少饮用软饮料和能量饮料。他们在家的饮食模式也更健康，每餐都提供蔬菜，每天提供水果，而很少提供软饮料。
儿童在学校午餐中的选择反映了他们在整个学龄期的饮食模式。均衡食用学校午餐与更规律的进餐模式、家庭中更健康食品的供应以及整体更健康的饮食有关，这表明健康的饮食模式是在家里养成的。
