The association of the school food environment with dietary behaviors of young adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
We examined the association between young adolescents' dietary behaviors and school vending machines, à la carte programs, and fried potatoes' being served at school lunch.


METHODS
Using a cross-sectional study design, we measured à la carte availability and the number of school stores, vending machines, and amounts of fried potatoes served to students at school lunch in 16 schools. Grade 7 students (n = 598) completed 24-hour dietary recall interviews.


RESULTS
A la carte availability was inversely associated with fruit and fruit/vegetable consumption and positively associated with total and saturated fat intake. Snack vending machines were negatively correlated with fruit consumption. Fried potatoes' being served at school lunch was positively associated with vegetable and fruit/vegetable intake.


CONCLUSIONS
School-based programs that aim to promote healthy eating among youths should target school-level environmental factors.
Kubik
Martha Y
MY
Division of Epidemiology, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, 55455, USA. kubik002@umn.edu
Lytle
Leslie A
LA
Hannan
Peter J
PJ
Perry
Cheryl L
CL
Story
Mary
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D017195:Adolescent Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D003296:Cooking; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005509:Food Dispensers, Automatic / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005518:Food Preferences; D005522:Food Services / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008910:Minnesota; D012574:Schools / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D012931:Social Environment; D011198:Solanum tuberosum; D014675:Vegetables
D004041:Dietary Fats