Early lunchtimes, parents who bring fast
food to the cafeteria for their kids, and school income
from vending machines can all conspire against high school
students trying to make healthy food choices, a new study
finds.
More information on these previously unreported dangers
might help schools develop policies that can improve teens'
eating habits, said Pennsylvania State researchers, who
analyzed data from surveys completed by school food service
directors at more than 200 public high schools across
the state.
Twenty-five percent of schools had lunch periods scheduled
before 10:30 a.m., and these early lunches predicted higher
sales of a la carte items, which often have lower nutritional
value.
"Students who have early lunch periods may purchase
a la carte items to eat later in the day when they are
likely to become hungry because they have eaten an early
lunch," the researchers explained. "This seems
to be a new finding, and suggests that timing issues may
be important considerations in encouraging the purchase
of more nutritious food options."
They also found there were more vending machines per
student in schools that received income from vending machine
sales. The more vending machines, the less likely students
were to take part in hot lunch programs, the researchers
noted.
Finally, schools that prohibited parents or students
from bringing fast food into the cafeteria had increased
participation in the school meal program.
"It's important to pay attention to all of the factors
facing students -- not just whether federally regulated
meals are available -- in order to make it easy and desirable
to kids to make healthy choices," study leader Dr.
Claudia Probart, an associate professor of nutritional
sciences, said in a prepared statement.
The findings appear in the February issue of the Journal
of the American Dietetic Association.
