What’s for lunch? The content and quality of lunches consumed by Dutch primary schoolchildren and the differences between lunches consumed at home and at school

Abstract

BackgroundLunch is an important part of a healthy diet, which is essential for the development, growth and academic performance of school-aged children. Currently there is an increasing number of Dutch primary schoolchildren who are transitioning from eating lunch at home to school. There is limited knowledge about the current quality of the lunches consumed by primary schoolchildren in the Netherlands and whether there are any differences between lunches consumed at home or at school. To investigate differences in content and quality of lunches consumed by Dutch primary schoolchildren at home and at school.MethodsCross-sectional study among 363 Dutch primary schoolchildren aged 4–12 years based on the first two years of the 2012–2016 Dutch National Food Consumption Survey. Demographic characteristics were obtained through a questionnaire. Diet was assessed with two non-consecutive 24-h dietary recalls. Quality of lunches was assessed on their nutritional quality whether they fitted the nutritional guidelines. ‘Nonparametric tests were used to examine the content and quality of the lunches between place of consumption and parental educational position.ResultsThe most consumed lunch products among primary schoolchildren were bread, dairy products and sugar-sweetened beverages. Fruit and vegetable consumption was very low. Consumption of milk and other dairy products was higher among children who eat lunch at home than children who eat lunch at school (p < 0.01). Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was higher among children who eat lunch at school than children who eat lunch at home (p < 0.01), and at school a higher proportion of the drinks did not fit within the Dutch dietary recommendations (p < 0.01).ConclusionsThe current content of the lunches consumed by Dutch primary schoolchildren leaves room for improvement, especially regarding fruit and vegetables. The statistically significantly higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and lower consumption of milk and dairy products at school vs. home is worrisome, as currently more children in the Netherlands are transitioning to having lunch at school.

Effects of the KEIGAAF intervention on the BMI z-score and energy balance-related behaviors of primary school-aged children

“…This is because collaboration between school and parents is important in creating a healthy nutrition-promoting environment, but this collaboration is difficult to achieve [58]. Parents have a big influence on children's nutrition consumption, also at school, because Dutch children bring home-packed lunches and drinks to school [12]. To change children's nutrition consumption at school, schools can set rules concerning what is allowed to be Table 3 Child-reported change in the percentage of children consuming breakfast before or specific foods and drinks at school for the intervention and control groups after one and 2 years (Model 1) and one-and two-year intervention effects (Model 2) Note.…”

“…This is because collaboration between school and parents is important in creating a healthy nutrition-promoting environment, but this collaboration is difficult to achieve [ 58 ]. Parents have a big influence on children’s nutrition consumption, also at school, because Dutch children bring home-packed lunches and drinks to school [ 12 ]. To change children’s nutrition consumption at school, schools can set rules concerning what is allowed to be consumed at school [ 14 ], but (expected) resistance from parents and staff toward these rules inhibits implementation [ 34 ].…”

“…Schools can improve PA levels of children by offering opportunities for children to engage in PA throughout the school day (e.g., during recess, through physical education) [11]. Although Dutch primary schools do not provide lunches, have no vending machines or school canteens [12], schools can still improve children's nutrition behavior. They can do this by implementing food policies concerning the home-packed lunches and drinks (mostly consisting of sandwiches, water, milk or a sugar-sweetened beverage, and sometimes candy or biscuits) and providing healthy foods (e.g., a policy promoting water or providing fruit) [11,13,14].…”

Keigaaf

“…This is because collaboration between school and parents is important in creating a healthy nutrition-promoting environment, but this collaboration is difficult to achieve [216]. Parents have a big influence on children's nutrition consumption, also at school, because Dutch children bring home-packed lunches and drinks to school [278]. To change children's nutrition consumption at school, schools can set rules concerning what is allowed to be consumed at school [118], but (expected) resistance from parents and staff toward these rules inhibits implementation [265].…”

“…The role of parents regarding children's nutrition behavior is larger than the role of schools [114] and children's nutrition behavior is seen as parents' main responsibility by parents and by schools [118,312]. In the Netherlands, parents influence not only children's breakfast consumption and nutrition intake during dinner, but also determine what is consumed during lunch [278]. Therefore, it is important that schools and parents align their views on children's nutrition behavior and work together in the promotion of children's nutrition behavior [118].…”