TY - JOUR

T1 - Do healthy school meals affect illness, allergies and school attendance in 8- to 11-year-old children?

T2 - A cluster-randomised controlled study

AU - Laursen, Rikke Pilmann

AU - Lauritzen, Lotte

AU - Ritz, Christian

AU - Dyssegaard, C B

AU - Astrup, Arne

AU - Michaelsen, Kim F.

AU - Damsgaard, Camilla Trab

N1 - CURIS 2015 NEXS 020

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - Background/Objectives:A nutritionally adequate diet in childhood is important for health and resistance of allergies and infections. This study explored the effects of school meals rich in fish, vegetables and fibre on school attendance, asthma, allergies and illness in 797 Danish 8- to 11-year-old children. No comparable studies conducted in high-income settings have been identified.Subjects/Methods:The OPUS School Meal Study was a cluster-randomised cross-over trial. Children from third and fourth grades at nine Danish schools received school meals or usual packed lunch (control) for two 3-month periods. Occurrence and duration of illnesses, asthma and allergies during the last 14 days were recorded by parental questionnaires at baseline and after each 3-month period. Self-reported well-being was assessed by visual analogue scales.Results:The school meals did not affect school attendance, parent-reported occurrence or duration of asthma and allergies or self-reported well-being. The most common symptoms of illness were stomach pain (24%), headache (28%) and cold (24%). A slightly higher number of children experienced headaches in the school meal (27%) compared with the control period (22%) (P=0.02). However, subgroup analyses showed that this effect was only seen in children eating school meals in the classroom (P=0.007), and not in common dining areas (P=0.2). No effect was found on other symptoms of illness.Conclusions:Provision of nutritionally balanced school meals did not affect school attendance, asthma, allergies, illness or well-being in 8- to 11-year-old children. The slight increase in occurrence of headaches seems to be related to the physical eating environment.European Journal of Clinical Nutrition advance online publication, 10 December 2014; doi:10.1038/ejcn.2014.263.

AB - Background/Objectives:A nutritionally adequate diet in childhood is important for health and resistance of allergies and infections. This study explored the effects of school meals rich in fish, vegetables and fibre on school attendance, asthma, allergies and illness in 797 Danish 8- to 11-year-old children. No comparable studies conducted in high-income settings have been identified.Subjects/Methods:The OPUS School Meal Study was a cluster-randomised cross-over trial. Children from third and fourth grades at nine Danish schools received school meals or usual packed lunch (control) for two 3-month periods. Occurrence and duration of illnesses, asthma and allergies during the last 14 days were recorded by parental questionnaires at baseline and after each 3-month period. Self-reported well-being was assessed by visual analogue scales.Results:The school meals did not affect school attendance, parent-reported occurrence or duration of asthma and allergies or self-reported well-being. The most common symptoms of illness were stomach pain (24%), headache (28%) and cold (24%). A slightly higher number of children experienced headaches in the school meal (27%) compared with the control period (22%) (P=0.02). However, subgroup analyses showed that this effect was only seen in children eating school meals in the classroom (P=0.007), and not in common dining areas (P=0.2). No effect was found on other symptoms of illness.Conclusions:Provision of nutritionally balanced school meals did not affect school attendance, asthma, allergies, illness or well-being in 8- to 11-year-old children. The slight increase in occurrence of headaches seems to be related to the physical eating environment.European Journal of Clinical Nutrition advance online publication, 10 December 2014; doi:10.1038/ejcn.2014.263.

U2 - 10.1038/ejcn.2014.263

DO - 10.1038/ejcn.2014.263

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 25491500

VL - 69

SP - 626

EP - 631

JO - European Journal of Clinical Nutrition

JF - European Journal of Clinical Nutrition

SN - 0954-3007

IS - 5

ER -