School Food Policies Related to Soft Drink and Fruit Juice Consumption as a Function of Education Type in Flanders, Belgium

Recent data on erosive tooth wear (ETW) in Belgium have associated a vocational/technical type of education with ETW risk. Since the role of schools is essential to the promotion of healthy diets, this study aimed to investigate school food policies (SFP) related to soft drink and fruit juice consumption and to detect differences among schools in Flanders, Belgium (BE-F). An online questionnaire related to the control of acidic beverages and promotion of healthy drinking habits was sent to all Flemish secondary schools. For analysis, schools (n = 275) were grouped by type of education (vocatio... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Francisca Marro
Peter Bottenberg
Wolfgang Jacquet
Luc Martens
Dokumenttyp: Text
Erscheinungsdatum: 2019
Verlag/Hrsg.: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Schlagwörter: Erosive tooth wear / school food policies / Type of education / socioeconomic school background / soft drinks regulations
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-29055385
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16152718

Recent data on erosive tooth wear (ETW) in Belgium have associated a vocational/technical type of education with ETW risk. Since the role of schools is essential to the promotion of healthy diets, this study aimed to investigate school food policies (SFP) related to soft drink and fruit juice consumption and to detect differences among schools in Flanders, Belgium (BE-F). An online questionnaire related to the control of acidic beverages and promotion of healthy drinking habits was sent to all Flemish secondary schools. For analysis, schools (n = 275) were grouped by type of education (vocational secondary education (VSE) and general secondary education (GSE)), and by socioeconomic status. Multiple factor analyses (MFA) were performed to identify schools with a similar SFP profile. Additionally, descriptive analyses were performed to determine other associations. Overall, 44% of schools in BE-F claimed to have written SFP related to the consumption of soft drinks. SFP expressly prohibiting or limiting acidic beverages were significantly more frequent in GSE schools (p < 0.05), where a higher economic status was present. This study shows that a considerable group of schools in BE-F have no or incomplete rules concerning acidic beverage consumption. Such rules differ between types of education, with VSE schools reporting less control regarding the consumption of drinks.