title: The price of healthy and unhealthy foods in Australian primary school canteens.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the price of Australian school canteen foods according to their nutritional value.
  
  
  METHODS
  Primary school canteen menus were collected as part of a policy compliance randomised trial. For each menu item, dietitians classified its nutritional value; 'green' ('good sources of nutrients'), 'amber' ('some nutritional value'), 'red' ('lack adequate nutritional value') and assigned a food category (e.g. 'Drinks', 'Snacks'). Pricing information was extracted. Within each food category, ANOVAs assessed differences between the mean price of 'green', 'amber' and 'red' items, and post-hoc tests were conducted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy of the 124 invited schools participated. There were significant differences in the mean price of 'green', 'amber' and 'red foods' across categories, with 'green' items more expensive than 'amber' items in main-meal categories ('Sandwiches' +$0.43, 'Hot Foods' +$0.71), and the reverse true for non-meal categories ('Drinks' -$0.13, 'Snacks' -$0.18, 'Frozen Snacks' -$0.25^).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Current pricing may not encourage the purchasing of healthy main-meal items by and for students. Further investigation of pricing strategies that enhance the public health benefit of existing school canteen policies and practices are warranted. Implications for Public Health: Providing support to canteen managers regarding healthy canteen policies may have a positive impact on public health nutrition.
authors.affiliation: Hunter New England Population Health, Hunter New England Local Health District, New South Wales.|School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, New South Wales.|Hunter Medical Research Institute, New South Wales.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wyse
authors.affiliation: Hunter New England Population Health, Hunter New England Local Health District, New South Wales.|School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, New South Wales.|Hunter Medical Research Institute, New South Wales.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wiggers
authors.affiliation: Hunter New England Population Health, Hunter New England Local Health District, New South Wales.|School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, New South Wales.|Hunter Medical Research Institute, New South Wales.
authors.forename: Tessa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Delaney
authors.affiliation: Hunter New England Population Health, Hunter New England Local Health District, New South Wales.|School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, New South Wales.|Hunter Medical Research Institute, New South Wales.
authors.forename: Jia Ying
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Ooi
authors.affiliation: Hunter New England Population Health, Hunter New England Local Health District, New South Wales.|School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, New South Wales.|Hunter Medical Research Institute, New South Wales.
authors.forename: Josephine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.affiliation: Hunter New England Population Health, Hunter New England Local Health District, New South Wales.|School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, New South Wales.|Hunter Medical Research Institute, New South Wales.
authors.forename: Tara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Clinton-McHarg
authors.affiliation: Hunter New England Population Health, Hunter New England Local Health District, New South Wales.|School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, New South Wales.|Hunter Medical Research Institute, New South Wales.
authors.forename: Luke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wolfenden
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D002648:Child; D003132:Commerce; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D005502:Food / Q000191:economics*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009753:Nutritive Value; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012574:Schools; D013334:Students
keywords: nutrition; pricing; public health; schools; students