A cross-sectional assessment of food- and nutrient-based standards applied to British schoolchildren's packed lunches.
In England, standards for school meals included both foods and nutrients until 2015. School policies for packed lunches are generally food based; research is needed to determine whether these are adequate or whether a small number of nutrients would potentially improve their quality.



From dietary data obtained using a weighed dietary assessment tool, a diet quality score (DQS) for packed lunches was calculated using the number of standards met out of twenty-one (eight foods and thirteen nutrients). Multilevel regression analysis determined the foods and nutrients contributing to variation in the DQS.



Eighty-nine primary schools across the four regions of the UK (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland).



British schoolchildren (n 1294), aged 8-9 years, taking a packed lunch.



The optimal model included all eight foods and seven of the thirteen nutrients, explaining 72 % of the variance in DQS. Folate, Fe and vitamin C, together with the eight food groups, explained 70 % of DQS variation.



Ideally, policies for school packed lunches should include food-based standards plus recommendations based on a small number of nutrients.
Nutriti onal Epidemiology Group,School of Food Science & Nutrition,University of Leeds,Leeds LS2 9JT,UK.
Charlotte El
CE
Evans
Nutriti onal Epidemiology Group,School of Food Science & Nutrition,University of Leeds,Leeds LS2 9JT,UK.
Janet E
0000-0003-3421-0121
JE
Cade
D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D000072001:Diet, Healthy / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D062409:Lunch; D008297:Male; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D009753:Nutritive Value; D012574:Schools / Q000592:standards*; D006113:United Kingdom
Children; Dietary quality; Nutrients; School food