Evans, CEL orcid.org/0000-0002-4065-4397, Melia, KE, Rippin, HL orcid.org/0000-0002-8879-3978 et al. (2 more authors) (2020) A repeated cross-sectional survey assessing changes in diet and nutrient quality of English primary school children’s packed lunches between 2006 and 2016. BMJ Open, 10 (1). e029688. ISSN 2044-6055
Abstract
Objective: Mandatory school meal standards were introduced in 2006 in England; however, no legislation exists for packed lunches. This study analyses provision of foods and nutrients in packed lunches in 2016 to highlight differences in diet and nutrient quality since 2006.
Design: Two cross-sectional surveys of children’s packed lunches were conducted in 2006 and 2016. Data were analysed using multilevel regression models taking into account the clustering of children within primary schools.
Setting: Data were collected from 1148 children who attended 76 schools across England in 2006 and from 323 children attending 18 schools across England in 2016.
Participants: Children were included if they regularly ate a packed lunch prepared at home (approximately half of children take a packed lunch to school) and were aged 8–9 years (in year 4), for both surveys.
Outcome measures: Data collected in both years included provision of weight and type of food, nutrients and proportion of lunches meeting individual and combined school meal standards.
Results: Frequency of provision and portion size of some food types changed substantially between surveys. Frequency of provision of confectionery in lunches reduced by 9.9% (95% CI −20.0 to 0.2%), sweetened drinks reduced by 14.4% (95% CI −24.8 to −4.0%), and cakes and biscuits not containing chocolate increased by 9.6% (95% CI 3.0 to 16.3%). Vegetable provision in lunches remained low. Substantial changes were seen in the percentage of lunches meeting some nutrient standards: non-milk extrinsic sugars (19%, 95% CI 10 to 29%), vitamin A (−8%, 95% CI −12 to −4%), vitamin C (−35%, 95% CI −42 to −28%) and zinc (−8%, 95% CI −14 to −1%).
Conclusions: Packed lunches remain low quality with few meeting standards set for school meals. Provision of sugars has reduced due to reductions in provision and portion size of sugary drinks and packaged sweet foods; however, provision of some nutrients has worsened.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Food Science and Nutrition (Leeds) > FSN Nutrition and Public Health (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine (LICAMM) > Clinical & Population Science Dept (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Golin n/a |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 30 Oct 2019 14:38 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 22:02 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | BMJ Journals |
Identification Number: | 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029688 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:152712 |