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Maternal nutrition, infants and children

Associations between usual school lunch attendance and eating habits and sedentary behaviour in French children and adolescents

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 66, pages 1335–1341 (2012)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objective:

Our objective was to investigate whether school lunch attendance was associated with overall eating habits and sedentary behaviour in a French sample of children and adolescents.

Subjects/Methods:

Data for the study were taken from the second French cross-sectional dietary survey (INCA2-2006-07). In total, 1413 school children aged 3–17 years old were classified according to their school type and their usual school lunch attendance. Eating habits included meal regularity, dietary diversity, purchase in vending machine, snacking habits and frequency of eating in fast-foods. Two composite indices of eating habits were derived from multiple correspondence analyses. Sedentary behaviour was assessed by the average daily screen times for TV and computer. The association between school lunch attendance and each variable was tested. Multivariate association between school lunch attendance and the composite indices of eating habits and sedentary behaviours was studied.

Results:

In all, 69.0% (CI95%: 64.2–73.9) of secondary school children and 63.0% (CI95%: 58.5–67.5) of pre- and elementary school children usually attended school lunch at least once a week. Pre- and elementary school children attending school lunches showed a higher dietary diversity score (P=0.02) and ate morning snacks more frequently (P=0.02). In secondary school children, attending school canteen was related to a lower rate of skipping breakfast (P=0.04) and main meals (P=0.01). In all school children, school lunch attendance was simultaneously associated with healthier overall eating habits and less sedentary behaviour.

Conclusion:

In France, children attending school canteens seem to have healthier eating habits and display less sedentary behaviour, independently of their socio-economic and demographic background.

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Acknowledgements

INCA2 was supported by a grant from the French Food Safety Agency (AFSSA), now ANSES.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Risk Assessment Department, French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES), Maisons-Alfort, France

    C Dubuisson, S Lioret, A Dufour, J L Volatier & L Lafay

  2. Department of Paediatrics, Jeanne de Flandre Children’s Hospital and Lille University Faculty of Medicine, Lille, France

    D Turck

Authors
  1. C Dubuisson
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  2. S Lioret
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  3. A Dufour
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  4. J L Volatier
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  5. L Lafay
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  6. D Turck
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to C Dubuisson.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Contributors: CD analysed the data and wrote the paper. LL, SL, J-LV and DT helped to write the paper. CD, AD, LL, SL, and J-LV contributed to the design and data collection of the INCA2 survey. All the authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Dubuisson, C., Lioret, S., Dufour, A. et al. Associations between usual school lunch attendance and eating habits and sedentary behaviour in French children and adolescents. Eur J Clin Nutr 66, 1335–1341 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2012.137

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