Are school meals a viable and sustainable tool to improve the healthiness and sustainability of children´s diet and food consumption?: A cross-national comparative perspective

Marije  Oostindjer; Jessica Aschemann-Witzel; Qing Wang; Silje Elisabeth  Skuland; Bjørg Egelandsdal; Gro V.  Amdam; Alexander  Schjøll; Mark C.  Pachucki; Paul Rozin; Jarrett  Stein; Valérie Lengard Almli; Ellen van Kleef

doi:10.1080/10408398.2016.1197180

Are school meals a viable and sustainable tool to improve the healthiness and sustainability of children´s diet and food consumption? A cross-national comparative perspective

Marije Oostindjer, Jessica Aschemann-Witzel, Qing Wang, Silje Elisabeth Skuland, Bjørg Egelandsdal, Gro V. Amdam, Alexander Schjøll, Mark C. Pachucki, Paul Rozin, Jarrett Stein, Valérie Lengard Almli, Ellen van Kleef

Department of Management - MAPP - Research on Value Creation in the Food Sector

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134 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

There is little agreement among governments, institutions, scientists and food activists as to how to best tackle the challenging issues of health and sustainability in the food sector. This essay discusses the potential of school meals as a platform to promote healthy and sustainable food behavior. School meal programs are of particular interest for improving public diet because they reach children at a population scale across socio-economic classes and for over a decade of their lives, and because food habits of children are more malleable than those of adults. Current research on the history and health implications of school meal programs is reviewed in a cross-national comparative framework, and arguments explored that speak for the need of a new developmental phase of school meals as an integrative learning platform for healthy and sustainable food behavior. Nutritional, social, practical, educational, economical, political, and cultural perspectives and challenges linked to the implementation of healthy and sustainable school meals are discussed. Finally, the need for long-term interventions and evaluations is highlighted and new research directions are proposed.

Original language	English
Journal	Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition
Volume	57
Issue	18
Pages (from-to)	3942-3958
Number of pages	17
ISSN	1040-8398
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2016.1197180
Publication status	Published - 2017

Keywords

children
food behavior
health
learning
school meals
sustainability

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Are school meals a viable and sustainable tool_Published pdf_2017Final published version, 1.18 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

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Oostindjer, M., Aschemann-Witzel, J., Wang, Q., Skuland, S. E., Egelandsdal, B., Amdam, G. V., Schjøll, A., Pachucki, M. C., Rozin, P., Stein, J., Almli, V. L., & van Kleef, E. (2017). Are school meals a viable and sustainable tool to improve the healthiness and sustainability of children´s diet and food consumption? A cross-national comparative perspective. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 57(18), 3942-3958. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2016.1197180

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abstract = "There is little agreement among governments, institutions, scientists and food activists as to how to best tackle the challenging issues of health and sustainability in the food sector. This essay discusses the potential of school meals as a platform to promote healthy and sustainable food behavior. School meal programs are of particular interest for improving public diet because they reach children at a population scale across socio-economic classes and for over a decade of their lives, and because food habits of children are more malleable than those of adults. Current research on the history and health implications of school meal programs is reviewed in a cross-national comparative framework, and arguments explored that speak for the need of a new developmental phase of school meals as an integrative learning platform for healthy and sustainable food behavior. Nutritional, social, practical, educational, economical, political, and cultural perspectives and challenges linked to the implementation of healthy and sustainable school meals are discussed. Finally, the need for long-term interventions and evaluations is highlighted and new research directions are proposed.",

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Oostindjer, M, Aschemann-Witzel, J, Wang, Q, Skuland, SE, Egelandsdal, B, Amdam, GV, Schjøll, A, Pachucki, MC, Rozin, P, Stein, J, Almli, VL & van Kleef, E 2017, 'Are school meals a viable and sustainable tool to improve the healthiness and sustainability of children´s diet and food consumption? A cross-national comparative perspective', Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, vol. 57, no. 18, pp. 3942-3958. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2016.1197180

Are school meals a viable and sustainable tool to improve the healthiness and sustainability of children´s diet and food consumption? A cross-national comparative perspective. / Oostindjer, Marije ; Aschemann-Witzel, Jessica; Wang, Qing et al.
In: Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, Vol. 57, No. 18, 2017, p. 3942-3958.

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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AU - Amdam, Gro V.

AU - Schjøll, Alexander

AU - Pachucki, Mark C.

AU - Rozin, Paul

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AU - Almli, Valérie Lengard

AU - van Kleef, Ellen

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AB - There is little agreement among governments, institutions, scientists and food activists as to how to best tackle the challenging issues of health and sustainability in the food sector. This essay discusses the potential of school meals as a platform to promote healthy and sustainable food behavior. School meal programs are of particular interest for improving public diet because they reach children at a population scale across socio-economic classes and for over a decade of their lives, and because food habits of children are more malleable than those of adults. Current research on the history and health implications of school meal programs is reviewed in a cross-national comparative framework, and arguments explored that speak for the need of a new developmental phase of school meals as an integrative learning platform for healthy and sustainable food behavior. Nutritional, social, practical, educational, economical, political, and cultural perspectives and challenges linked to the implementation of healthy and sustainable school meals are discussed. Finally, the need for long-term interventions and evaluations is highlighted and new research directions are proposed.

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Oostindjer M, Aschemann-Witzel J, Wang Q, Skuland SE, Egelandsdal B, Amdam GV et al. Are school meals a viable and sustainable tool to improve the healthiness and sustainability of children´s diet and food consumption? A cross-national comparative perspective. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. 2017;57(18):3942-3958. Epub 2016 Aug 10. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2016.1197180

Are school meals a viable and sustainable tool to improve the healthiness and sustainability of children´s diet and food consumption? A cross-national comparative perspective

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