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ObjectiveTo examine the effects of child-oriented dietary intervention on parental eating attitudes and dietary behaviour.DesignIn the prospective, randomized Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project for Children (the STRIP study), a cohort of Finnish families took part in a nutritional intervention trial focused on the quality of their children's fat intake since the age of 8 months. Health-related and hedonic eating attitudes of the parents were measured after 10 years of dietary intervention using a validated Health and Taste Attitude Scales (HTAS) questionnaire (n 660). Parents’ eating behaviour was studied using a 1 d food record (n 491).SettingFinland.SubjectsMothers and fathers (n 660) of the STRIP children.ResultsThe parents of the intervention families had a higher level of interest in healthy eating compared with control parents. The interest in natural products or hedonic eating attitudes did not differ between the groups. The parents’ general health interest was associated with low saturated fat intake, fruit and vegetable consumption, fibre intake and seeking pleasure in eating, but it was not associated with BMI. The intervention also improved the quality of dietary fat among parents with the lowest level of interest in healthy eating.ConclusionsParents’ general health interest was associated with regular dietary counselling as well as with healthier food choice behaviour. However, the dietary intervention that focused especially on the quality of the child's fat intake also enhanced specific changes in the family's fat consumption without a high level of interest in healthy eating. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: The 'Tasty School' is a tailored teacher‐delivered food education model for primary schools in Finland. The aim of the current study was to investigate the feasibility of the Tasty School model in primary schools. Furthermore, the aim was to assess changes during the intervention in the class teachers' perspectives and experiences related to food education and school dining. Methods: The method involved a quasi‐experimental study with intervention and control groups. A total of 130 class teachers from 15 intervention and 10 control schools from five municipalities in Finland participated in the study during one school year. The theoretical framework of acceptability was utilised to evaluate feasibility using frequencies. The comparison data were analysed using a mixed‐effects model for repeated measures to account for the intervention effects and selected standardising effects. Results: Teachers reported that the model was highly acceptable and easily integrated into the school environment. Support from principals and colleagues was the most important facilitator of food education, and lack of time was the barrier. Teachers in the intervention schools were more likely to consider school meals healthy after the intervention, and they reported having sufficient materials and supplies for food education. Conclusions: The Tasty School was shown to be a feasible model for food education in primary schools. The current study especially found that the commitment of the whole school and principals' role are crucial in the implementation of food education. The factors that support the implementation must be strengthened, and efforts must be made to reduce the barriers. Key points: The Tasty School was shown to be a feasible model for food education in primary schools.The commitment of the whole school and principal's role are crucial in the implementation of food education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Schools can be an effective arena for food education. The Tasty School is a tailored teacher-driven food education model that provides tools for implementing food education in primary schools. This study aimed to investigate the effects of the Tasty School model on pupils' eating patterns and experiences. We also aimed to assess the implementation strength of the Tasty School.Design: A quasi-experimental study was conducted during one school year 2019-2020 in fifteen intervention and ten control schools. The intervention schools implemented the Tasty School food education model. The pupils completed web-based baseline and follow-up questionnaires in class during a school day. The principals were interviewed after the intervention. The data were analysed using a mixed-effects model for repeated measures, accounting for the implementation strength and selected standardisation effects.Setting: A total of twenty-five general Finnish primary schools.Participants: 1480 pupils from grades 3-6 (age 8-12 years) from five municipalities in Finland.Results: Percentages of pupils eating a balanced school meal increased in schools where food education was actively implemented (P = 0·027). In addition, pupils' experience of social participation in school dining strengthened in schools where the Tasty School model was implemented (5-point scale mean from 2·41 to 2·61; P = 0·017).Conclusions: Healthy eating patterns can be promoted by the active implementation of food education in primary schools. The Tasty School model offers a promising tool for developing healthy eating patterns and increasing social participation among pupils not only in Finland, but also potentially in other countries as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. We studied whether the se-rum leptin concentration at age 2 years predicts changes in relative body weight by age 8 and whether the serum leptin concentration is associated with intake of energy and nutrients at age 5. Methods. A total of 156 8-year-old participants of the Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project were chosen to represent children whose relative weight decreased, was stable, or increased during the preceding 6 years. Their serum leptin concentrations were mea-sured in samples collected when they were 2 years. Se-rum leptin was also measured in 100 5-year-old children in the Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project whose energy and nutrient intakes were analyzed using 4-day food records. Results. The boys whose relative weight decreased (n = 25), was stable (n = 28), or increased (n = 26) between 2 and 8 years of age had similar serum leptin concentra-tions at the age of 2 years. The girls whose relative weight decreased (n = 27) had higher serum leptin concentra-tions at 2 years than the girls whose relative weight remained stable (n = 26) but only when the leptin values were not adjusted for body mass index. The serum leptin concentration was higher in 5-year-old girls than in 5-year-old boys even when adjusted for body mass index. Serum leptin correlated with relative weight in girls and boys (r = 0.65 and r = 0.45, respectively). Serum leptin concentration adjusted for relative weight correlated poorly with intakes of energy, fat, saturated fat, carbo-hydrates, sucrose, and protein. Conclusions. Serum leptin concentrations at age poorly predicted changes in relative body weight during the following 6 years and poorly reflected the intake of energy or major nutrients at age 5. Pediatrics 2004;113: 1273--1278; leptin, growth, dietary factors, childhood obe-sity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Nutritious and attractive school meals can improve health equality and public health. Current official guidelines and recommendations on food and nutrient composition of school meals in 3 Nordic countries; Sweden, Finland, and Iceland, are described and compared with actual practice, ie, availability of foods and nutrients in served reference meals in 3 selected areas in each country. METHODS: A country comparison was made between official guidelines, and actual practice was studied in participating schools. Reference portions of school meals (N = 170) provided in 24 compulsory schools were photographed and weighed. Food and nutrient availability were compared with official guidelines in each country. RESULTS: Emphasis of recommendations on whole‐grain bread in Sweden, whole grains in Finland, and fish in Iceland were reflected in food availability. The energy content of the meals provided was lower than guidelines and there was a large variation in energy content between days. CONCLUSIONS: The guidelines regarding food availability were quite well followed, but the large variation in energy and nutrient content of provided school meals between days indicates a need for standardization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated schooling effects on cognition. Cognitive data were collected as part of a research project (ProMeal) that investigated school meals and measured the intake of school lunch in relation to children's health, cognitive function, and classroom learning in four Nordic countries, among children between 10-11 years of age. It was found that Finnish pupils attending 4th grade were not, on any measure, outperformed by Norwegian and Icelandic pupils attending 5th and Swedish pupils attending 4th grade on a task measuring working memory capacity, processing speed, inhibition, and in a subsample on response- and attention control. Moreover, boys were found to perform superior to girls on tasks measuring processing speed. However, girls were found to perform better on tasks related to attention and self-control. The results are discussed in relation to the reciprocal association between cognition and schooling and whether these results reflect quality differences between schools in the four Nordic countries; most notably in comparison to Finland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: School meals, if both nutritious and attractive, provide a unique opportunity to improve health equality and public health. Objective: To describe the study rationale, data collection, and background of participants in the study 'Prospects for promoting health and performance by school meals in Nordic countries' (ProMeal). The general aim was to determine whether overall healthiness of the diet and learning conditions in children can be improved by school lunches, and to capture the main concerns regarding school lunches among children in a Nordic context. Design: A cross-sectional, multidisciplinary study was performed in Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden on pupils (n = 837) born in 2003. Results: In total 3,928 pictures of school lunches were taken to capture pupils' school lunch intake. A mean of 85% of all parents responded to a questionnaire about socioeconomic background, dietary intake, and habitual physical activity at home. Cognitive function was measured on one occasion on 93% of the pupils during optimal conditions with a Stroop and a Child Operation Span test. A mean of 169 pupils also did an Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test after lunch over 3 days. In total, 37,413 10-sec observations of classroom learning behavior were performed. In addition, 753 empathy-based stories were written and 78 focus groups were conducted. The pupils had high socioeconomic status. Conclusions: This study will give new insights into which future interventions are needed to improve pupils' school lunch intake and learning. The study will provide valuable information for policy making, not least in countries where the history of school meals is shorter than in some of the Nordic countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project for Children (STRIP) study, repeated dietary counseling introduced in infancy and maintained until 20 years of age has led to lower intakes of saturated fat and serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. In this study, we examined prospectively the intervention effects on the ideal cardiovascular health concept recently described by the American Heart Association. Additionally, we investigated the association between the concept and vascular intima-media thickness and elasticity in adolescence. Methods and Results: In adolescents participating in the longitudinal, randomized, atherosclerosis-prevention STRIP study, complete data on ideal cardiovascular health metrics were available at 15 (n=394), 17 (n=376), and 19 (n=298) years of age. Aortic intima-media thickness and elasticity were measured with ultrasonography at the same ages. None of the adolescents had all 7 ideal cardiovascular health metrics. At least 5 ideal metrics was found in 60.2%, 45.5%, and 34.2% of the adolescents at 15, 17, and 19 years of age, respectively. Adolescents in the control group had an increased risk of low ideal cardiovascular health (≤3 metrics) compared with the intervention adolescents (risk ratio=1.35; 95% confidence interval=1.04-1.77). The number of ideal cardiovascular health metrics was inversely associated with aortic intima-media thickness (P<0.0001) and directly associated with elasticity (P=0.045). The risk of having high intima-media thickness (>85th percentile) was nearly 2-fold in adolescents with a low number of metrics (≤3) compared with those with a higher score (risk ratio=1.78; 95% confidence interval=1.31-2.43). Conclusions: Ideal cardiovascular health as determined by the AHA can be promoted in adolescents. The ideal cardiovascular health concept is beneficially associated with vascular health already in adolescence, supporting the relevance of targeting these metrics as part of primordial prevention. Clinical Trial Registration: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00223600. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background—In the Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project for Children (STRIP) study, repeated dietary counseling introduced in infancy and maintained until 20 years of age has led to lower intakes of saturated fat and serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. In this study, we examined prospectively the intervention effects on the ideal cardiovascular health concept recently described by the American Heart Association. Additionally, we investigated the association between the concept and vascular intima-media thickness and elasticity in adolescence. Methods and Results—In adolescents participating in the longitudinal, randomized, atherosclerosis-prevention STRIP study, complete data on ideal cardiovascular health metrics were available at 15 (n=394), 17 (n=376), and 19 (n=298) years of age. Aortic intima-media thickness and elasticity were measured with ultrasonography at the same ages. None of the adolescents had all 7 ideal cardiovascular health metrics. At least 5 ideal metrics was found in 60.2%, 45.5%, and 34.2% of the adolescents at 15, 17, and 19 years of age, respectively. Adolescents in the control group had an increased risk of low ideal cardiovascular health (⩽3 metrics) compared with the intervention adolescents (risk ratio=1.35; 95% confidence interval=1.04-1.77). The number of ideal cardiovascular health metrics was inversely associated with aortic intima-media thickness (P<0.0001) and directly associated with elasticity (P=0.045). The risk of having high intima- media thickness (>85th percentile) was nearly 2-fold in adolescents with a low number of metrics (⩽3) compared with those with a higher score (risk ratio=1.78; 95% confidence interval=1.31-2.43). Conclusions—Ideal cardiovascular health as determined by the AHA can be promoted in adolescents. The ideal cardiovascular health concept is beneficially associated with vascular health aheady in adolescence, supporting the relevance of targeting these metrics as part of primordial prevention. Clinical Trial Registration—URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00223600 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]