Promotion of healthy nutrition among students participating in a school food aid program: a randomized trial

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the potential benefits on students' eating habits, of incorporating healthy nutrition education as part of a school food aid program.

Methods: 146 schools participating in the DIATROFI Program in Greece during the 2013-2014 school year were randomly allocated to the environmental intervention (received a healthy daily meal) and the multicomponent intervention (MI) group (in addition to the meal, a healthy nutrition educational program was applied). The analysis, based on 3627 pre-post intervention questionnaire pairs, was stratified for children (ages 4-11 years) and adolescents (ages 12-18 years).

Results: Children participating in the MI group displayed 25 % higher odds of increasing the weekly consumption of milk/yoghurt and fruits, 61 % higher odds of improving BMI from overweight/obese to normal and 2.5 times higher odds of improving from underweight to normal. For adolescents in the MI group, the odds of increasing the consumption of vegetables were 40 % higher. In both intervention groups, approximately one in four overweight/obese adolescents reached normal weight.

Conclusions: Educational programs on healthy nutrition might be considered worth implementing in the framework of school food aid programs.

Keywords: Children; Dietary habits; Educational intervention; School; School food aid program.