Recent trends of school-based nutrition interventions for children and adolescents in foreign countries

a systematic review

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to review the recent trends of school-based nutrition interventions for children and adolescents in foreign countries.
Methods: A systematic review was carried out using Medline (PubMed) with keywords “Education” [MeSH] AND (“food habits” [MeSH] OR “food preferences” [MeSH]) AND (“school” OR “school-based” OR “cafeteria”) to identify school-based nutrition interventions that targeted students aged 6-18, published in English between 1999 and 2009. Titles and abstracts of 325 articles were screened, of which 230 articles that did not meet our inclusion criteria were excluded. After screening the remaining articles, 27 interventions (17 in elementary schools and 10 in junior high or high schools) were included for this review.
Results: Many studies in elementary schools reported to have multiple levels of approaches including those to children, family, and teachers or school cafeterias, whereas studies in junior high and high schools mainly reported approaches to students only or to students and the school. Outcome measures of dietary behaviors included number, frequency, or score of dietary behavior practices and food or nutrient intake. Evaluation methods such as survey and observation were used. Multilevel interventions were more likely to be effective in elementary schools, but this trend was not found among junior high- and high-school interventions.
Conclusion: This study suggests that the age-appropriate nutrition intervention with both educational and environmental approaches may lead to desirable dietary behavioral changes among children and adolescents in school settings.