Lunch programme in schools helps ease socioeconomic disparity in diet quality

A school lunch programme in elementary and junior high schools appears to be a feasible intervention in reducing socioeconomic disparities in diet quality, according to a study, adding that the development of healthy food options in high schools with no lunch programmes must be considered.

“Although higher diet quality is related to higher socioeconomic status among adults, it is unclear whether this result could be generalized to children,” the authors said. “Elementary and junior high school lunch programmes may contribute to the reduction of socioeconomic disparities in diet quality.”

This cross-sectional study was conducted in 866 household members (435 men and 431 women) aged 6–18 years from the 2014 National Health and Nutrition Survey in Japan to assess the link between diet quality and household income level in schoolchildren.

The authors examined dietary intake using 1-day semi-weighted household dietary record and calculated the Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top scores (range 0–70). Household income was assessed as follows: low, middle, and high.

Associations of diet quality with household income levels were evaluated by age subgroups (6–14 and 15–18 years) in relation to those with vs without school lunch programmes.

Participants with higher household income in the 15–18-year-old group had higher dietary scores. The multivariate adjusted mean diet scores were 44.3 (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 39.0–49.7), 48.8 (95 percent CI, 47.1–50.6), and 51.6 (95 percent CI, 49.7–53.4) in children with low, middle, and high household income level, respectively (p_trend=0.003).

On the other hand, no significant associations were noted in the 6–14-year-old age subgroup.

“The development of healthy food environment in high schools without school lunch programmes, should also be considered,” the authors said.