Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31311509›Full record

ArticleBMC public health2019

Free school meals as an approach to reduce health inequalities among 10-12- year-old Norwegian children.

Frøydis N Vik, Wendy Van Lippevelde, Nina C Øverby

Abstract readControlled Clinical Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC public health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  11. Food insecurity in children and young people in Scotland.The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society · 2024
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Frøydis N VikDepartment of Nutriton and Public Health, University of Agder, Post-box 422, N-4604, Kristiansand, Norway. froydis.n.vik@uia.no.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7324-0070
Wendy Van LippeveldeDepartment of Nutriton and Public Health, University of Agder, Post-box 422, N-4604, Kristiansand, Norway.
Nina C ØverbyDepartment of Nutriton and Public Health, University of Agder, Post-box 422, N-4604, Kristiansand, Norway.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundChildren spend a considerable amount of time at school and consume at least one meal/day. This study aimed to investigate if a free, healthy school meal every day for one school year was associated with children's intake of healthy foods at school, weight status and moderating effects of socio-economic status.

methodsA non-randomized study design with an intervention and a control group was used to measure change in children's dietary habits at lunchtime. In total, 164 children participated; 55 in the intervention group and 109 in the control group (baseline). Intervention-children were served a free, healthy school meal every school day for one year. Participating children completed a food frequency questionnaire at baseline, at five months follow-up and after one year. Children's anthropometrics were measured at all three timepoints. Intervention effects on children's Healthy food score, BMI z-scores, and waist circumference were examined by conducting a Repeated Measures Multivariate ANOVA. Moderating effects of children's gender and parental socio-economic status were investigated for each outcome.

resultsA significant intervention effect on children's outcomes (multivariate) between baseline and after one year (F = 2.409, p < 0.001), and between follow-up 1 at five months and after one year (F = 8.209, p < 0.001) compared to the control group was found. The Univariate analyses showed a greater increase in the Healthy food score of the intervention group between baseline and follow-up 1 (F = 4.184, p = 0.043) and follow-up 2 (F = 10.941, p = 0.001) compared to the control group. The intervention-children had a significant increase in BMI z-scores between baseline and follow-up 2 (F = 10.007, p = 0,002) and between follow-up 1 and 2 (F = 22.245, p < 0.001) compared to a decrease in the control-children. The intervention-children with lower socio-economic status had a significantly higher increase in Healthy food score between baseline and follow-up 2 than the control-children with lower socio-economic status (difference of 2.8 versus 0.94), but not among children with higher socio-economic status.

conclusionsServing a free school meal for one year increased children's intake of healthy foods, especially among children with lower socio-economic status. This study may contribute to promoting healthy eating and suggests a way forward to reduce health inequalities among school children.

trial registrationISRCTN61703361 . Date of registration: December 3rd, 2018. Retrospectively registered.

Indexed as

Health Status DisparitiesSchool Health ServicesChildDiet, HealthyFeeding BehaviorFemaleFood ServicesHumansLunchMaleNorwayProgram EvaluationSocioeconomic FactorsChildrenFree school mealHealthy food scoreInterventionNorwaySocio-economic statusWeight status

Identifiers

PMID31311509
PMCPMC6632183

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.