Canadian scientific literature lacks quantitative information on school meals, which, in Can-ada, are not regulated by law and do not have any national nutritional standard. Nutritional stan-dards and guidelines are essential in evaluation and monitoring studies to maintainor im-proveschool meals quality. This research looked at the nutritional quality of meals served by some elementary schools running a school meal program administered by CHEP Good Food Inc., a non-profit organization, in Saskatoon, SK. Data collected from 1997 until 2006 were combined to those collected in the 2007/08 school-year. Lunches were compared to 1/3 Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI), and breakfasts and snacks, to ΒΌ DRI. Using one-sample t-tests and ANOVA, p< 0.05, we evaluated nutrients that were suggested to be below the standard. Sas-katchewans food-based standards were also used to evaluate food group content according to the Canadas Food Guide to Healthy Eating. On-site observations in selected schools shed light on childrens choices and plate waste. Focus groups with selected nutrition coordinators (NC) provided insight into their practices. Overall, lunches and breakfasts had a good nutrient profile but were low mainly in energy, vitamin E, potassium, and, in some years, folate and calcium, particularly for 9-13 year-olds. Findings suggested that snacks seem to be below the DRI stan-dards, but they can be an opportunity for nutrition education. We observed no clear or significant trend across the years. All meals offered good amounts of fruits and vegetables, grains, and dairy products. Plate waste was low and related to NCs practices. Analysis of the interviews exposed some possible explanations for the quantitative results and allowed some recommendations. Findings from this study provide support for future establishment of school meals nutritional standards and for possible changes and improvements of the program, and will enrich knowledge regarding school meals.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:USASK/oai:usask.ca:etd-08172008-182521 |
| Date | 05 September 2008 |
| Creators | Gougeon, Laura Andres Rossi |
| Contributors | Ramdath, Dan, Pushor, Debbie, Henry, Carol J., Baxter-Jones, Adam D. G., Whiting, Susan J. |
| Publisher | University of Saskatchewan |
| Source Sets | University of Saskatchewan Library |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-08172008-182521/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Saskatchewan or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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