Dianne Neumark-Sztainer and colleagues have reported a significant association between school food policies and snacking behaviors of high school students.
Students at schools with open campus policies during lunchtime were significantly more likely to eat lunch at a fast food restaurant than students at schools with closed campus policies (0.7 days/week vs. 0.2 days/week, p < .001). Student snack food purchases at school were significantly associated with the number of snack machines at schools (p < .001) and policies about the types of food that can be sold. In schools with policies, students reported making snack food purchases an average of 0.5 ± 1.1 days/week as compared to an average of 0.9 ± 1.3 days/week in schools without policies (p < .001). In schools in which soft drink machines were turned off during lunch time, students purchased soft drinks from vending machines 1.4 ± 1.6 days/week as compared to 1.9 ± 1.8 days/week in schools in which soft drink machines were turned on during lunch (p = .040). International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity | Abstract | School lunch and snacking patterns among high school students: Associations with school food environment and policies.
The authors call for a a closer examination of school food policies, and as the "nutrition wars" gear up after the IOM report, expect many, contradictory positions to be taken by health advocates, researchers, school personnel and the food industry that will make it difficult for the average person to tell what's the reality and what's the smoke and mirrors in the debates over environmental determinants, or covariates, of childhood obesity.
For a preview of the legal battle shaping up over the sale of soft drinks in schools, see today's New York Times with this closer: Mr. Gardner said he and the other lawyers realize that damages could run into the billions. "We haven't decided about this yet," he said. "We don't want this to come off looking like a greedy-lawyer lawsuit."
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