Premium
The Impact of Nutrition Standards on Competitive Food Offerings and Purchasing Behaviors of High School Students
Author(s) -
Snelling Anastasia M.,
Kennard Teha
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of school health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.851
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1746-1561
pISSN - 0022-4391
DOI - 10.1111/j.1746-1561.2009.00446.x
Subject(s) - scrutiny , purchasing , business , marketing , nutrient density , nutrient , value (mathematics) , obesity , environmental health , agricultural economics , advertising , food science , medicine , economics , political science , biology , ecology , machine learning , computer science , law
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: With adolescent obesity rates on the rise, the school food environment is receiving closer scrutiny. This study looks at the effects of nutrient standards as part of a wellness policy that was implemented in 3 public high schools in 1 county, by analyzing the nutritional value of competitive food offerings and purchases before and after the development of the standards. METHODS: All food offerings and purchases were labeled based on their nutritional density using a stoplight approach of green, yellow, and red colors for the pre‐ and post‐ period. The stoplight approach to ranking foods is on a continuum of nutrient density, with green foods being the healthiest choices and red foods offering minimal nutrient density. RESULTS: Results showed that after the implementation of the standards, red foods made up 30% of offerings, down from 48% of offerings prior to the existence of the guidelines. The proportion of red food purchases also decreased, from 83% to 47%. Additionally, yellow food offerings increased from 18% to 48% and purchases increased from 6% to 34%. CONCLUSION: Results indicate that the nutrient standards as part of the wellness policy contributed to a positive shift in the nutritional value of competitive food purchases and offerings.