Abstract
Objectives
Schools have an important role to play in obesity prevention, but little is known
about the food environment in small, predominately rural schools. The primary purpose
of this study was to compare the availability and student purchasing of foods sold
outside of the reimbursable meals program through à la carte or vending (ie, competitive
foods) in small (n=7) and large (n=6) Kansas high schools.
Methods
A cross-sectional observational study design was used to capture the number of à la
carte and vending items available and purchased, and the fat and energy content of
all available and purchased items on a single school day between January and May 2005.
Results
Small schools had significantly fewer vending machines than large schools (median
3.0 [range 2.0 to 5.0] vs 6.5 [range 4.0 to 8.0], P<0.01]. Vending and à la carte items at small schools contained a median of 2.3 fewer
fat grams per item (P≤0.05), whereas vending products contained a median of 25 kcal fewer per item (P≤0.05) than at large schools. Significantly less fat (median −15.4 g/student) and
less energy (median −306.8 kcal/student) were purchased per student from all competitive
food sources and from à la carte (median −12.9 g fat and −323.3 kcal/student) by students
in small schools compared to students in large schools (P≤0.05).
Conclusions
The findings, which highlight less availability and lower energy content from competitive
foods at small compared to large schools, have implications for understanding how
small schools support their foodservice programs with limited dependence on competitive
foods and the influence that food and nutrition professionals can have on school environments
by providing more oversight into the nutritional quality of foods available.
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Biography
N. L. Nollen is an assistant professor, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City
Biography
C. Befort is an assistant professor, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City
Biography
T. Snow is a project manager, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City
Biography
A. McGrath Davis is an associate professor, Department of Behavioral Pediatrics, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City
Biography
J. Mahnken is an assistant professor, Department of Biostatistics, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City
Biography
Q. Hou is a teaching associate, Department of Biostatistics, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City
Biography
M. Story is a professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
Biography
J. S. Ahluwalia is the associate dean for clinical research, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis
Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
September 9,
2008
Identification
Copyright
© 2009 American Dietetic Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
