School nutrition policy and diet quality of children and youth: a quasi-experimental study from Canada.

Gaudin, Victoria; Stranges, Saverio; Wilk, Piotr; Sarma, Sisira (2023). School nutrition policy and diet quality of children and youth: a quasi-experimental study from Canada. Canadian journal of public health, 114(4), pp. 613-628. Springer 10.17269/s41997-023-00743-y

Preview	Text Gaudin_CanJPublicHealth_2023_AAM.pdf - Accepted Version Available under License Publisher holds Copyright. Authors hold Copyright Download (308kB) | Preview
	Text Gaudin_CanJPublicHealth_2023.pdf - Published Version Restricted to registered users only Available under License Publisher holds Copyright. Authors hold Copyright Download (707kB) | Request a copy

OBJECTIVE

We investigated the impact of mandatory school nutrition policy on diet quality of Canadian school children using a quasi-experimental study design.

METHODS

Using 24-h dietary recall data from the 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) Cycle 2.2 and 2015 CCHS - Nutrition, we constructed the Diet Quality Index (DQI). We used multivariable difference-in-differences regressions to quantify the DQI scores associated with school nutrition policy. We conducted stratified analyses by sex, school grade, household income, and food security status to gain additional insights into the impact of nutrition policy.

RESULTS

We found that mandatory school nutrition policy was associated with an increased DQI score by 3.44 points (95% CI: 1.1, 5.8) during school-hours in intervention provinces relative to control provinces. DQI score was higher among males (3.8 points, 95% CI: 0.6, 7.1) than among females (2.9 points, 95% CI: -0.5, 6.3), and the score among students in elementary schools was higher (5.1 points, 95% CI: 2.3, 8.0) than that among high school students (0.4 points, 95% CI: -3.6, 4.5). We also found that DQI scores were higher for middle-high income and food secure households.

CONCLUSION

Provincial mandatory school nutrition policy was associated with better diet quality among children and youth in Canada. Our findings suggest that other jurisdictions may consider implementing mandatory school nutrition policy.

Interest & Impact

Downloads

1 since deposited on 29 Mar 2023
1 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item