Department of Public Health, Sport and Nutrition, University of Agder, Norway.
Scand J Public Health. 2017 Jul;45(5):485-491. doi: 10.1177/1403494817704108. Epub 2017 May 31.
The aim of this study was to investigate whether a free school meal every day was associated with children's intake of healthy food during school.
A non-randomized study design with an intervention and a control group was used to measure change in children's meal habits at lunchtime. In total, 164 children participated; 55 in the intervention group and 109 in the control group. Children in the intervention group were served a free, healthy school meal every school day. Participating children completed a questionnaire at baseline and at 6 months' follow up. Possible associations were evaluated with a healthy food score, which was calculated based on a food frequency questionnaire on lunch habits at school. Chi-square and Independent Samples t-test were used to analyse the data.
At baseline, there was no significant difference in the healthy food score between the intervention and the control group ( p = 0.08). Children in the intervention group increased their healthy food score significantly compared with children in the control group after 6 months ( p ⩽ 0.01). Change in the healthy food score was mainly due to an increase in the intake of fruit ( p ⩽ 0.01), vegetables ( p ⩽ 0.01) and fish spread ( p = 0.02); all in favour of the intervention group.
A serving of a free school meal every day for 6 months increased children's intake of healthy food at lunchtime compared with the control group. Further studies are needed to establish possible long-term effects.
本研究旨在探讨每天提供免费校餐是否与儿童在校期间的健康食品摄入量有关。
采用非随机研究设计，包括干预组和对照组，以测量儿童午餐时间饮食习惯的变化。共有 164 名儿童参与，其中干预组 55 名，对照组 109 名。干预组的儿童每天在校享用免费的健康校餐。参与儿童在基线和 6 个月随访时完成了一份问卷。通过基于学校午餐习惯的食物频率问卷计算健康食品得分，评估可能的关联。采用卡方检验和独立样本 t 检验分析数据。
基线时，干预组和对照组的健康食品得分无显著差异（p=0.08）。6 个月后，干预组儿童的健康食品得分显著高于对照组（p ⩽ 0.01）。健康食品得分的变化主要归因于水果（p ⩽ 0.01）、蔬菜（p ⩽ 0.01）和鱼酱（p=0.02）摄入量的增加，所有这些都有利于干预组。
连续 6 个月每天提供一份免费校餐，可增加儿童午餐时健康食品的摄入量，与对照组相比。需要进一步研究以确定可能的长期影响。
