title: Socio-economic and demographic variations in school lunch participation of French children aged 3-17 years.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess school canteen attendance in a French nationally representative sample of children and to analyse its association with the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the children and their families.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from the second French national cross-sectional food consumption survey (INCA2), performed in 2006-2007, were used. Information on usual weekly school canteen attendance was collected through a self-reported questionnaire, and demographic and socio-economic variables through a face-to-face questionnaire. The associations between school canteen attendance and the socio-economic and demographic variables were investigated by multivariate logistic regression analyses.
  
  
  METHODS
  The INCA2 sample was representative of the children aged 3-17 years in France.
  
  
  METHODS
  Analysis was performed on 1413 schoolchildren who completed the school canteen attendance questions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Some 65·6 % of schoolchildren aged 3-17 years had school lunch at least once weekly. This rate of attendance was positively correlated with age. Whatever the school level, school canteen attendance was positively associated with the educational level of the caregiver/parent. In pre- and elementary-school children, enrolment at the school canteen was also higher when the caregiver/parent worked, or in single-parent families. In secondary-school children, school lunch participation decreased with children living in more densely populated areas and increased with the level of the household's living standards.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  School canteen attendance was positively associated with children's socio-economic background. This could reduce the effectiveness of the forthcoming school meal composition regulations designed to improve the diet of children from deprived backgrounds, who are more likely to have unhealthy food habits.
authors.affiliation: French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES), Direction of Risk Assessment for Nutrition and Food Safety, Dietary Survey Unit - Nutritional Epidemiology, 94701 Maisons Alfort Cedex, France. carine.dubuisson@anses.fr
authors.forename: Carine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dubuisson
authors.forename: Sandrine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lioret
authors.forename: Ariane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dufour
authors.forename: Gloria
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Calamassi-Tran
authors.forename: Jean-Luc
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Volatier
authors.forename: Lionel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lafay
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Turck
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003710:Demography; D004522:Educational Status; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005522:Food Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012574:Schools; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires