Development and validation of a new simple Healthy Meal Index for canteen meals

Abstract

Objective: Nutrition evaluation tools should be developed both for scientific purposes and to encourage and facilitate healthy nutritional practices. The purpose of the present study was to develop and validate a simple food-based Healthy Meal Index (HMI) reflecting the nutritional profile of individual canteen meals. Design: The development process included overall model selection, setting nutritional goals and defining scoring systems and thresholds. Three index components were included: (i) contents of fruit and vegetables, (ii) fat content and quality and (iii) contents of wholegrain products and potatoes. The development was built on the principles embodied by the Plate Model, but providing more specificity in some areas. The simple HMI was validated against weighed and chemically analysed food and nutrient content of a representative sample of canteen meals. The sample was split into four categories according to the total index score and compared across categories. Setting: A total of 180 meals from fifteen worksite canteens. Results: Average energy density decreased significantly across categories (from 876 kJ/100 g to 537 kJ/100 g, P , 0?001). Also, the content of total and saturated fat, carbohydrate and fruit and vegetables varied across categories with higher score values being closer to dietary guidelines (P , 0?001). Conclusions: The simple HMI was successful in ranking canteen meals according to their nutritional quality. The index provides a valuable tool to both researchers and food and nutrition professionals, e.g. caterers and dietitians, who wish to evaluate nutritional quality of meals in line with the recommendations for healthier eating without the use of nutrition calculation programs.

Increasing fruit and vegetable intake among male university students in an ad libitum buffet setting: A choice architectural nudge intervention

“…Consequently and as reported elsewhere, approximately 150 g of F&V provided through a canteen lunch meal would be enough to achieve the recommended intake of 600 g of F&V per day (Lassen, Biltoft-Jensen, Hansen, Hels, & Tetens, 2010). Hence, it is more likely that the participants in the intervention group will meet the recommendations, as we were successful in reaching the recommended 150 g for a lunch meal.…”

Validation of a Tablet Application for Assessing Dietary Intakes Compared with the Measured Food Intake/Food Waste Method in Military Personnel Consuming Field Rations

“…The low rate of underreporting in our study is also an improvement in comparison to some studies, using the food record and/or 24-h recalls as a reference method, that underestimate energy intake by 6% or more [33,34,35]. Similar to our findings, some studies using training/reminders, weighed meals, and/or total energy expenditure as a reference method in evaluating or validating digital-assisted dietary assessment methods have found underreporting ranging from 3% to 4% [13,36].…”

Improving the diet of employees at blue-collar worksites: results from the ‘Food at Work’ intervention study

“…It is, however, well recognized that improving the nutritional quality of food served by food services can be challenging, and efforts to change the food selection and content may be met with resistance by both canteen staff and customers (33)(34)(35) . In order to support the ongoing progress towards healthier menu meals, the provision of an assessment tool directed at worksite canteens would be valuable for conducting self-evaluation and setting targets for work (36) . The present study has several limitations, including small sample sizes as well as differences in background variables between groups, as worksites rather than individuals were randomized in the study.…”