Socio-economic and demographic variations in school lunch participation of French children aged 3-17 years.
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.
Dubuisson
Carine
C
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
Lioret
Sandrine
S
Dufour
Ariane
A
Calamassi-Tran
Gloria
G
Volatier
Jean-Luc
JL
Lafay
Lionel
L
Turck
Dominique
D
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