title: Promotion of healthy nutrition among students participating in a school food aid program: a randomized trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the potential benefits on students' eating habits, of incorporating healthy nutrition education as part of a school food aid program.
  
  
  METHODS
  146 schools participating in the DIATROFI Program in Greece during the 2013-2014 school year were randomly allocated to the environmental intervention (received a healthy daily meal) and the multicomponent intervention (MI) group (in addition to the meal, a healthy nutrition educational program was applied). The analysis, based on 3627 pre-post intervention questionnaire pairs, was stratified for children (ages 4-11 years) and adolescents (ages 12-18 years).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children participating in the MI group displayed 25 % higher odds of increasing the weekly consumption of milk/yoghurt and fruits, 61 % higher odds of improving BMI from overweight/obese to normal and 2.5 times higher odds of improving from underweight to normal. For adolescents in the MI group, the odds of increasing the consumption of vegetables were 40 % higher. In both intervention groups, approximately one in four overweight/obese adolescents reached normal weight.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Educational programs on healthy nutrition might be considered worth implementing in the framework of school food aid programs.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Preventive Medicine, Environmental and Occupational Health, Prolepsis, Maroussi, Greece.
authors.forename: Dina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zota
authors.affiliation: Institute of Preventive Medicine, Environmental and Occupational Health, Prolepsis, Maroussi, Greece.|Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Archontoula
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dalma
authors.affiliation: Institute of Preventive Medicine, Environmental and Occupational Health, Prolepsis, Maroussi, Greece.|Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.|Department of Statistics, Athens University of Economics and Business, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Athanassios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petralias
authors.affiliation: Institute of Preventive Medicine, Environmental and Occupational Health, Prolepsis, Maroussi, Greece.|Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Anastasia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lykou
authors.affiliation: Institute of Preventive Medicine, Environmental and Occupational Health, Prolepsis, Maroussi, Greece.|Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Christina-Maria
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Kastorini
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yannakoulia
authors.affiliation: Institute of Preventive Medicine, Environmental and Occupational Health, Prolepsis, Maroussi, Greece.
authors.forename: Pania
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Karnaki
authors.affiliation: Institute of Preventive Medicine, Environmental and Occupational Health, Prolepsis, Maroussi, Greece.
authors.forename: Katerina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Belogianni
authors.affiliation: Institute of Preventive Medicine, Environmental and Occupational Health, Prolepsis, Maroussi, Greece.|Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Afroditi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Veloudaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Riza
authors.affiliation: Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Rhea
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Malik
authors.affiliation: Institute of Preventive Medicine, Environmental and Occupational Health, Prolepsis, Maroussi, Greece. a.linos@prolepsis.gr.|Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece. a.linos@prolepsis.gr.
authors.forename: Athena
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Linos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D000072001:Diet, Healthy; D005260:Female; D063105:Food Assistance; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009753:Nutritive Value; D012574:Schools; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Children; Dietary habits; Educational intervention; School; School food aid program