What options do children choose for their school lunch? Time-series and cluster analyses of food choice data from a primary school in England

IF 4.9 1区农林科学 Q1 FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Food Quality and Preference Pub Date : 2025-07-28 DOI:10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105648

Inès François , Matthew Homer , Hannah Ensaff

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

In England, more than a fifth of 10–11-year-olds live with obesity. Given its detrimental effects on health and well-being, addressing childhood obesity is critical, and understanding how children select foods is crucial to this. This study aimed to investigate children's selection of school lunches. Selection data (>11,000 transactions) for 155 schoolchildren (5–11 years), were collected from a primary school. The school offered three lunch options: meat/fish-based dish (MFD); a vegetarian dish (VEG); and sandwich/jacket potato (SJP). A time-series analysis revealed stable selection at the school population level, with consistent patterns across identical rounds of the menu cycle. There was also no difference in selections for younger and older children, and for pupils entitled to Free School Meals (FSM) and pupils who were not. Cluster analysis revealed four patterns of selection: Cluster 1 (n = 43) with a distinct preference for meat/fish-based dishes (76.8 % MFD, 10.5 % SJP, 12.7 % VEG); Cluster 2 (n = 42) with low selection of vegetarian dishes (50.2 % MFD, 36.8 % SJP, 13.0 % VEG); Cluster 3 (n = 40) with a tendency toward main meals (57.8 % MFD, 12.4 % SJP, 29.8 % VEG); and Cluster 4 (n = 30) with an assorted selection (36.8 % MFD, 27.9 % SJP, 35.3 % VEG). Cluster membership was not associated with age nor FSM entitlement. Findings, such as the stability of children's choices and the relative size of clusters point to the valuable insights afforded by selection data. These offer unique opportunities to examine children's behaviour within a school food environment, including in the longer term and as a means to inform school-based interventions.

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孩子们会选择什么样的学校午餐？英国一所小学食物选择数据的时间序列和聚类分析

在英国，超过五分之一的10 - 11岁儿童患有肥胖症。鉴于其对健康和福祉的有害影响，解决儿童肥胖问题至关重要，了解儿童如何选择食物对此至关重要。本研究旨在调查儿童对学校午餐的选择。选取一所小学155名学童（5-11岁）的选择数据（>11,000笔交易）。学校提供三种午餐选择：肉/鱼为主的菜肴（MFD）；一道素菜（VEG）；三明治/夹克衫土豆（SJP）。时间序列分析显示，在学校人口水平上的选择是稳定的，在相同的菜单周期中具有一致的模式。年龄较小的儿童和年龄较大的儿童以及享有免费校餐的学生和不享有免费校餐的学生的选择也没有差别。聚类分析揭示了四种选择模式：聚类1 （n = 43）对肉类/鱼类为主的菜肴有明显的偏好（76.8%的MFD， 10.5%的SJP， 12.7%的VEG）；第2组（n = 42）素食选择较少（MFD占50.2%，SJP占36.8%，VEG占13.0%）；第3组（n = 40）倾向于主餐（MFD占57.8%，SJP占12.4%，VEG占29.8%）；第4组（n = 30）有不同的选择（36.8% MFD, 27.9% SJP, 35.3% VEG）。集群成员与年龄和FSM权限无关。研究结果，如儿童选择的稳定性和集群的相对大小，指出了选择数据提供的有价值的见解。这些提供了独特的机会来检查儿童在学校食物环境中的行为，包括长期的行为，并作为一种为学校干预提供信息的手段。

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来源期刊

Food Quality and Preference 工程技术-食品科技

CiteScore

10.40

自引率

15.10%

发文量

263

审稿时长

38 days

期刊介绍： Food Quality and Preference is a journal devoted to sensory, consumer and behavioural research in food and non-food products. It publishes original research, critical reviews, and short communications in sensory and consumer science, and sensometrics. In addition, the journal publishes special invited issues on important timely topics and from relevant conferences. These are aimed at bridging the gap between research and application, bringing together authors and readers in consumer and market research, sensory science, sensometrics and sensory evaluation, nutrition and food choice, as well as food research, product development and sensory quality assurance. Submissions to Food Quality and Preference are limited to papers that include some form of human measurement; papers that are limited to physical/chemical measures or the routine application of sensory, consumer or econometric analysis will not be considered unless they specifically make a novel scientific contribution in line with the journal''s coverage as outlined below.