Factors associated with universal infant free school meal take up and refusal in a multicultural urban community

GOODCHILD, GA, FAULKS, J, SWIFT, JA, MHESURIA, J, JETHWA, P and PEARCE, Jo (2017). Factors associated with universal infant free school meal take up and refusal in a multicultural urban community. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 30 (4), 417-428.

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Official URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jhn.12...
Link to published version:: https://doi.org/10.1111/jhn.12442

Abstract

Background: Universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) were introducedin September 2014 and are available to all key stage 1 (4–7 years) childrenattending state-maintained infant and primary schools in England. The pre-sent study aimed to investigate the school-based factors, child and familysocio-demographic characteristics, and parental beliefs associated withUIFSM take up in an urban community.Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was completed in Octoberto November 2015, amongst parents whose children attended eligibleschools in Leicester, England. A questionnaire about school meals was alsocompleted by each school.Results: Parents reported their child did not take (non-UIFSM, n = 159) ortook (UIFSM, n = 517) a UIFSM on most days. The non-UIFSM groupwere more likely to be White-British, have a higher socio-economic status,have English as a first language, and involve their child in the decision overwhether or not to take UIFSM, compared to the UIFSM group. Clusteranalysis revealed that non-UIFSM parents were either concerned over qual-ity of meals and what/how much their child ate, concerned only by what/how much their child ate or whether their child did not like the food pro-vided. Two subsets of parents in the UIFSM group were either very positiveabout UIFSM or appeared to take meals because they were free. Schoolsused a variety of measures to increase and maintain UIFSM take up.Conclusions: Parents like to have control over what their child eats atschool and children need to enjoy their school meals. Using a range ofinterventions to target subsets of parents may help local authorities, schoolsand caterers to increase UIFSM take up.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: 1111 Nutrition and Dietetics; Nutrition & Dietetics
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1111/jhn.12442
Page Range: 417-428
SWORD Depositor: Symplectic Elements
Depositing User: Symplectic Elements
Date Deposited: 05 Feb 2020 11:24
Last Modified: 18 Mar 2021 02:45
URI: https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/25696

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