Lunch on School Days in Canada: Examining Contributions to Nutrient and Food Group Intake and Differences across Eating Locations

Abstract

Background Recent federal proposals in Canada have called for changes in the delivery and funding of school lunches. Yet little evidence has documented the nutritional quality of meals eaten by school children, which is needed to inform school lunch reforms. Objectives To assess the dietary contributions of lunch foods to daily food and nutrient intakes on school days and compare dietary intakes across eating locations (school, home, and off campus). Design Cross-sectional analyses of school day data from the 2015 Canadian Community Health Survey-Nutrition. Participants/setting Children aged 6 to 17 years who completed a 24-hour dietary recall falling on a school day in 2015 (n¼2,540). Main outcome measures Mean percent of daily intakes of energy, food groups, and nutrients contributed by foods reported at lunch and energy-adjusted intakes of nutrients and food groups consumed during the lunch meal. Statistical analyses Descriptive statistics were used to assess the percent of daily energy, nutrients, and food groups contributed by lunch foods. Multivariable linear regression models examined differences in dietary outcomes across eating locations for the full sample and stratified by age group, with separate models for children aged 6 to 13 and 14 to 17 years. Results On average, foods reported at lunch provided w26% of daily calories on school days. Relative to energy, lunch foods provided lower contributions of dark green and orange vegetables, whole fruit, fruit juice, whole grains, milk and alternatives, fluid milk; minimally nutritious foods including sugar-sweetened beverages; and several related nutrients including total sugars; vitamins A, D, B-6, and B-12; riboflavin; and calcium. Yet, lunch foods provided proportionally higher contributions of grain products, nonewhole grains, meat and alternatives, and sodium. Children aged 14 to 17 years who ate lunch at school reported higher intakes of total vegetables and fruit, whole fruit, whole grains, fiber, vitamin C, and magnesium but reported fewer calories from sugar-sweetened beverages compared with their peers who ate lunch off campus. Conclusions Relative to its contribution to energy, lunch on school days contributed to proportionally lower intakes of many healthful foods such as dark green and orange vegetables, whole fruit, whole grains, and fluid milk but also proportionally lower intakes of other high-fat and high-sugar foods including sugar-sweetened beverages. This study adds to the growing body of evidence on dietary concerns during school time for Canadian children and highlights particular nutritional challenges for adolescents consuming lunch off campus.

The Good Food for Learning Universal Curriculum-Integrated Healthy School Lunch Intervention: Protocol for a Two-Year Matched Control Pre-Post and Case Study

“…We are working with a community-based organization that works with local producers to incorporate local foods where possible into school food menus. The menu includes a variety of vegetables and fruits because they are particularly low in the diets of Canadian children [ 14 , 46 ], and it has been reviewed by a dietitian.…”

“…Provision of healthy school lunches is challenging in the context of parents working long hours [ 43 , 44 ], and families are struggling to adopt healthy food behaviors [ 44 ]. Parents may rely on highly processed foods, low in key nutrients but high in salt, sugar, and fat, to cope with demands on time [ 45 , 46 ]. The diets of Canadian children across the socioeconomic spectrum are poor [ 47 ].…”

Characteristics of Canadian school food programs funded by provinces and territories

“…Students consumed lower than recommended amounts of dark green and orange vegetables, whole fruit, whole grains, milk and alternatives, vitamin D and calcium, and higher amounts of sodium (Tugault-Lafleur & Black, 2020).…”

Where Do Adolescents Eat Less-Healthy Foods? Correspondence Analysis and Logistic Regression Results from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey

“…A more recent analysis of British children aged 1.5-18 years concluded that the home and school eating environments are associated with better food choices, while other locations including outlets selling foods to eat on the go are associated with poorer food choices [18]. These results mimic the rest of Europe and Canada, where the home and school environments are associated with a higher consumption of desirable nutrients and a diet lower in energy density in adolescents [24,25].…”