Nutritional profile of foods offered and consumed in a Belgian university canteen

Abstract Objective To evaluate the nutritional profile of a lunch offered and consumed in a university canteen in Belgium. Design The qualitative and quantitative content of 4365 meals theoretically available and 330 meals consumed was recorded during five weekdays spread over three weeks. Meal combinations were evaluated using a scoring system based on recommendations for Na content, energy from fat, and fruit and vegetable portions. Setting University canteen in Belgium. Results Only a 5 % of the meal combinations available and consumed complied with the three basic dietary recommendations f... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Lachat, Carl K
Huybregts, Lieven F
Roberfroid, Dominique A
Van Camp, John
Remaut-De Winter, Anne-Marie E
Debruyne, Petra
Kolsteren, Patrick W
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2009
Reihe/Periodikum: Public Health Nutrition ; volume 12, issue 1, page 122-128 ; ISSN 1368-9800 1475-2727
Verlag/Hrsg.: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-28878584
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1368980008002048

Abstract Objective To evaluate the nutritional profile of a lunch offered and consumed in a university canteen in Belgium. Design The qualitative and quantitative content of 4365 meals theoretically available and 330 meals consumed was recorded during five weekdays spread over three weeks. Meal combinations were evaluated using a scoring system based on recommendations for Na content, energy from fat, and fruit and vegetable portions. Setting University canteen in Belgium. Results Only a 5 % of the meal combinations available and consumed complied with the three basic dietary recommendations for a hot lunch. The nutritional profile of the meals consumed was in line with that of the meals available. Conclusions Our results show how the nutritional profile of what is eaten is largely determined by what is offered. To ensure overall compliance with dietary recommendations, considerable changes on the supply side, i.e. an increase in fruit and vegetable portions and a reduction in salt and fat of the lunch, are needed first in our setting. Our assessment provides baseline data to pilot a nutrient profiling intervention and shows how a nutrient profiling system can be used for meal evaluation purposes.