Dietary analysis of randomly selected meals from the Child Hunger and Education Program School Nutrition Program in Saskatchewan, Canada, suggests that nutrient target levels are being provided

Abstract In Canada, school meals are regarded as important for social, educational, and nutritional reasons and have been provided for several years because of concerns about the health and welfare of children, especially those from low-income households. They are generally offered as local communit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Nutrition research (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 31; no. 3; pp. 215 - 222
Main Authors:	Gougeon, Laura A.R, Henry, Carol J, Ramdath, Dan, Whiting, Susan J
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01-03-2011 Elsevier
Subjects:	Adolescent Biological and medical sciences Canada Child Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena Child, Preschool Diet - standards Dietary Fats - analysis Dietary Fiber - analysis Energy Intake Feeding. Feeding behavior Female Follow-Up Studies Food - standards Food services Food Services - standards Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology Gastroenterology and Hepatology Humans Male Micronutrients - analysis Minerals - analysis Nutrition Assessment Nutrition Policy Primary schools Program evaluation Saskatchewan School-age population Schools Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems Vitamins - analysis Canada North America America AI Program evaluation Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating Estimated Average Requirements adequate intake NSLP CHEP CFGHE Canada EAR Food services National School Lunch Program formerly Child Hunger and Education Program Primary schools School-age population Human Evaluation Nutrition education Meal Vertebrata Hunger School age Mammalia Nutrient Population Primary school Child Food
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Summary:	Abstract In Canada, school meals are regarded as important for social, educational, and nutritional reasons and have been provided for several years because of concerns about the health and welfare of children, especially those from low-income households. They are generally offered as local community organization and individual schools, are not regulated by law, and have no set national nutrition standards. The Canadian scientific literature lacks quantitative information on the nutritional adequacy of school meals. Better and more evaluation of such programs would encourage and guide administrators to assess other local programs in a similar fashion. Here, we describe the dietary assessment process of 1 school meal program in Canada and the nutritional adequacy of the meals. Throughout 10 years (1997-2007), the contents of 159 lunches and 90 breakfasts were collected mainly from elementary schools participating in the Child Hunger and Education Program Good Food, Inc's school nutrition program initiative in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. We collected, weighed, and analyzed food samples from meals served to children at participating schools. We then compared their nutrient content against standards based on the Dietary Recommended Intakes for children aged 4 to 8 and 9 to 13 years using one third of the recommendations as the standard for lunches and one fourth for breakfasts. Overall, both meals had a good nutrient profile and met the standards for most analyzed macronutrients and micronutrients throughout the years. Although energy was persistently low, vitamin and mineral contents were often above the standards, reflecting a tendency to offer nutrient-dense foods in lieu of energy-dense foods. The rigorous methodology described in this manuscript can be followed to assess other small local programs. Furthermore, the dietary assessment presented can encourage not only the implementation of school meal programs in other locations but also the assessment of already existing programs—a clear need in the scientific literature.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0271-5317 1879-0739
DOI:	10.1016/j.nutres.2011.03.002