School nutrition policy and diet quality of children and youth: a quasi-experimental study from Canada.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

We investigated the impact of mandatory school nutrition policy on diet quality of Canadian school children using a quasi-experimental study design.

Methods

Using 24-h dietary recall data from the 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) Cycle 2.2 and 2015 CCHS - Nutrition, we constructed the Diet Quality Index (DQI). We used multivariable difference-in-differences regressions to quantify the DQI scores associated with school nutrition policy. We conducted stratified analyses by sex, school grade, household income, and food security status to gain additional insights into the impact of nutrition policy.

Results

We found that mandatory school nutrition policy was associated with an increased DQI score by 3.44 points (95% CI: 1.1, 5.8) during school-hours

SUBMITTER: Gaudin V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10351299 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature