Dataset Information

Effects of Longer Seated Lunch Time on Food Consumption and Waste in Elementary and Middle School-age Children: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Health experts recommend at least 20 minutes of seated lunch time for children, but no federal policy for lunch period duration exists in the United States. Additional strategies in the National School Lunch Program for mitigating food waste are needed to maintain the viability of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.

Objective

To assess the effect of a longer seated lunch time on food consumption and waste among elementary and middle school-age children.

Design, setting, and participants

This randomized within-participant crossover trial was conducted from June 3 to June 28, 2019, for a total of 20 study days. All attendees of a summer camp held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, were invited to participate in the study. Participants were elementary and middle school-age children and were provided every study day with lunch prepared according to the National School Lunch Program nutrition standards.

Intervention

Five menus were served throughout the study. A 20-minute or 10-minute seated lunch condition was randomly assigned to each day within the 5 menus.

Main outcomes and measures

The primary outcomes were food consumption, waste, and dietary intake, which were analyzed separately for each meal component (fruit, vegetable, entree [protein plus grain], beverage [both milk and water], and milk alone). Dietary intake was assessed for calories, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, protein, vitamin D, calcium, iron, and potassium. Participant behaviors were observed during the meal, including seated time as well as level of talking and phone use.

Results

A total of 38 children with 241 lunch trays were observed. The 38 children had a mean (SD) age of 11.86 (1.23) years and 23 were female participants (61%); 30 had a non-Hispanic/non-Latino ethnicity (79%) and 23 were White individuals (61%). During 10 minutes of seated lunch time, participants consumed significantly less fruit (-11.3 percentage points; 95% CI, -18.1 to -4.5) and vegetables (-14.1 percentage points; 95% CI, -22.7 to -5.7) compared with 20 minutes of seated lunch time. Entree and beverage consumption and waste did not differ between the 10-minute and 20-minute seated lunch conditions. Participants also consumed significantly more and wasted significantly less calories (-22.03 kcal; 95% CI, -39.47 to -4.61 kcal), carbohydrates (-3.81 g; 95% CI, -6.20 to -1.42 g), dietary fiber (-0.51 g; 95% CI, -0.81 to -0.19 g), protein (-1.11 g; 95% CI, -2.17 to -0.04 g), iron (-0.20 mg; 95% CI, -0.38 to -0.02 mg), and potassium (-53.49 mg; 95% CI, -84.67 to -22.32 mg) during the 20-minute seated lunch condition.

Conclusions and relevance

This study found that fruit and vegetable consumption increased in school-age children during a 20-minute seated lunch condition. This finding supports policies that require children to receive at least 20 minutes of seated lunch time; such policies could have favorable implications for children's dietary intake and food waste.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04191291.

SUBMITTER: Burg X

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8220493 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundDuring 2010, the US Department of Agriculture updated the school meals standards, including three progressively decreasing sodium targets. The Target 1 standards went into effect in 2014, but during 2018, the US Department of Agriculture delayed the Target 2 standards until 2024 and eliminated the Target 3 standards citing concerns regarding the availability and acceptability of lower-sodium foods. In addition, there are currently no sugar standards, and it is unknown whether sugar is substituted for salt in lower-sodium school foods.ObjectiveTo examine the availability, selection, and consumption of school lunches already in alignment with the Target 2 and 3 sodium levels and the association between sodium and sugar.DesignAn observational cafeteria-based study conducted during fall 2018.Participants and settingStudents (n = 1985) in grades three through eight attending 13 elementary/kindergarten through eighth-grade schools in a large, urban school district in New England.Main outcome measuresAvailability, selection, and consumption were examined using plate waste methodology.Statistical analyses performedMixed-model analysis of variance accounting for student demographic characteristics with schools/students as a random effect (students nested within schools) were used to examine differences in availability, selection, and consumption. Linear regression was used to examine the association between sodium and sugar in the school foods.ResultsThe majority of meals selected (87%) and consumed (98%) were already in alignment with the Target 2 standards. There were significant inverse associations between sodium levels and consumption; each 100-mg increase in sodium was associated with a decrease in consumption by 2% for entrées (P = 0.002) and 5% for vegetables (P = 0.01). When examining the association between sodium and sugar, each 10-mg reduction in sodium was associated with 1-g increase in sugar among entrées (P < 0.0001), whereas there was a significant positive association between sodium and sugar with vegetables and condiments.ConclusionsThis study provides some evidence that schools may already have the ability to provide lower-sodium meals that are acceptable to students, and therefore the recent rollbacks to the sodium standards may be unwarranted. Study findings suggest that the US Department of Agriculture should take under consideration policies that would limit added sugar for school meals as sugar may be substituted for salt.