Lunches from home associated with better dietary behaviors in California students

Improving the school food environment has become a popular strategy in improving adolescent dietary behavior and preventing youth obesity. According to data from the 2005 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), a biennial random-digit dial (RDD) telephone survey of California households, this is a promising intervention. Frequently bringing lunch from home was associated with significantly better overall dietary behaviors than bringing lunch less frequently or not at all, suggesting that what students purchase at school is less nutritionally beneficial than what they bring from home. California adolescents (ages 12-17) who did not typically bring lunch from home drank 79% more soda (1.36 vs. 0.76 servings per day; p<0.01), ate 19% more fast food (0.64 vs. 0.54 servings per day; p<0.05), and ate 15% fewer fruits and vegetables (3.8 vs. 4.5 servings per day; p<0.001) than those who brought their lunches at least once per week. In addition, students who did not typically bring lunches from home had 74% more fried potatoes (0.33 vs. 0.19 servings per day; p<0.001) and 16% more high sugar foods (1.34 vs. 1.16 servings per day; p<0.05) than those who brought lunch at least four times per week. The relationship between frequency of bringing lunch to school from home and dietary behaviors after adjusting for sociodemographic factors will be examined and dietary behaviors that are most closely associated with school year lunch source will be identified. Improving the nutritional value of foods available to students at school may be one strategy for improving dietary behaviors of adolescents.