Dietary Quality Comparison of the School and Home Lunches Consumed by Chinese School-Age Children and Adolescents: Analysis of the 2011 China Health and Nutrition Survey

Abstract

Objectives@#The number of schools offering school lunches has increased in China. This study examined the dietary quality of the lunches consumed by Chinese school-age children and adolescents, with a focus on comparing school lunches with home lunches. @*Methods@#The first weekday 24-hour dietary recall data of 6~17-year-old students (n=1,084) from the 2011 China Health and Nutrition Survey were analyzed. The subjects were divided into the school lunch group and the home lunch group, and the dietary quality of lunches was compared between the two groups among 6~11-year-old students (n=634; 177 in the school lunch group and 457 in the home lunch group) and 12~17-year-old students (n=450;144 in the school lunch group and 306 in the home lunch group), respectively. Frequently consumed foods, amount of food group intake, food group intake pattern, Dietary Diversity Score (DDS), and Dietary Variety Score (DVS) were examined. @*Results@#The most frequently consumed foods in both lunch groups were rice and pork. An excessive intake of meat and insufficient intake of seafood were noted in both lunch groups. The school lunch group showed a lower level of vegetable consumption than the home lunch group (P=0.017 in 6~11-year-old students, P=0.003 in 12~17-year-old students).Although more students ate meals with a better dietary pattern in the school lunch group than the home lunch group, there were no significant differences in DDS and DVS between the two groups. @*Conclusions@#Overall, the dietary quality of lunches was not superior in the school lunch group compared to the home lunch group. This suggests that much room remain for improving dietary quality of school lunches in China.