The impact of modifying school meals on dietary intakes of school-aged children

This study examined the effectiveness of school food service and health education interventions in changing nutrient intakes at meals and snacks over a 24-hour period as a secondary analysts of the Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) intervention. Researchers assessed nutrient intakes at baseline and follow-up among children at randomly assigned school--40 control and 56 intervention. The researchers used two groups of interventions: a school-based program [school food service, curriculum, and physical education] (n = 28), and the same schoolbased program plus a family-based component (n = 28). To evaluate the combined effects of the curricula and the Eat Smart School Nutrition Program--the school food service component of CATCH--the researchers examined intakes of school lunch and school breakfast for the two intervention and control conditions. In both interventions, mean intakes of children who consumed school lunch were reduced more in two CATCH-targeted nutrient (total fat and saturated fat) and increased more in carbohydrate than they were among children in control schools or children who did not eat school lunch. To evaluate the effects of the CATCH family intervention in addition to the school-based program, the researchers assessed changes in meals consumed outside of school, such as dinner and snacks. Children in the control and two intervention groups did not differ in their intakes of CATCH-targeted nutrients from those meals, suggesting either the CATCH intervention programs had smaller effects on meals outside of school or that the variability was so great for these meals that there was not enough power to detect differences.