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Clinical Trial
. 2020 Aug 12;12(8):2419.
doi: 10.3390/nu12082419.

The Effect of Supportive Implementation of Healthier Canteen Guidelines on Changes in Dutch School Canteens and Student Purchase Behaviour

Irma J Evenhuis  1 , Suzanne M Jacobs  2 , Ellis L Vyth  1 , Lydian Veldhuis  2 , Michiel R de Boer  1 , Jacob C Seidell  1 , Carry M Renders  1
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

The Effect of Supportive Implementation of Healthier Canteen Guidelines on Changes in Dutch School Canteens and Student Purchase Behaviour

Irma J Evenhuis et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

We developed an implementation plan including several components to support implementation of the "Guidelines for Healthier Canteens" in Dutch secondary schools. This study evaluated the effect of this plan on changes in the school canteen and on food and drink purchases of students. In a 6 month quasi-experimental study, ten intervention schools (IS) received support implementing the guidelines, and ten control schools (CS) received only the guidelines. Changes in the health level of the cafeteria and vending machines were assessed and described. Effects on self-reported purchase behaviour of students were analysed using mixed logistic regression analyses. IS scored higher on healthier availability in the cafeteria (77.2%) and accessibility (59.0%) compared to CS (60.1%, resp. 50.0%) after the intervention. IS also showed more changes in healthier offers in the cafeteria (range -3 to 57%, mean change 31.4%) and accessibility (range 0 to 50%, mean change 15%) compared to CS (range -9 to 46%, mean change 9.7%; range -30 to 20% mean change 7% resp.). Multi-level logistic regression analyses on the intervention/control and health level of the canteen in relation to purchase behaviour showed no relevant relations. In conclusion, the offered support resulted in healthier canteens. However, there was no direct effect on students' purchase behaviour during the intervention.

Keywords: adolescents; canteen; implementation; nutrition; purchase behaviour; schools.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The CONSORT flow diagram of the present study [23].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Histogram of the changes in healthier products available in the cafeteria.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Histogram of the changes in healthier products available at vending machines.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Histogram of the changes in fulfilled accessibility criteria.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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