Table 4.
Correlates* of school environmental components in the primary and secondary schools surveyed, Quebec, Canada, 2008–2009
| Primary schools | Secondary schools | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population density | School size | LICO | Population density | School size | LICO | |||||||
| Test value | P | Test value | P | Test value | P | Test value | P | Test value | P | Test value | P | |
| Availability of food | ||||||||||||
| Food offerings in cafeterias | ||||||||||||
| Index of a healthy food environment | ||||||||||||
| Milk and soya drinks | U=43·5 | 0·001 | U=81·0 | 0·013 | U=67·0 | 0·005 | N/A† | N/A† | N/A† | |||
| Vegetables and fruit | U=94·5 | 0·214 | U=77·0 | 0·090 | U=138·0 | 0·907 | U=677·0 | 0·317 | U=776·0 | 0·977 | U=709·5 | 0·491 |
| Protein source | U=133·0 | 0·185 | U=87·0 | 0·019 | U=141·0 | 0·248 | U=60·0 | 0·563 | U=16·0 | 0·055 | U=50·0 | 0·373 |
| Whole-grain cereal products | U=415·0 | 0·370 | U=462·5 | 0·821 | U=340·5 | 0·050 | U=275·0 | 0·001 | U=461·5 | 0·213 | U=317·5 | 0·003 |
| Presence of the four food groups | U=84·5 | 0·896 | U=63·0 | 0·403 | U=70·0 | 0·540 | U=596·5 | 0·060 | U=666·0 | 0·226 | U=641·0 | 0·143 |
| Index of an unfavourable food environment | ||||||||||||
| Beverages that are sweet or sweetened or that contain caffeine | U=119·0 | 0·102 | U=142·0 | 0·261 | U=126·0 | 0·136 | U=699·5 | 0·875 | U=597·0 | 0·233 | U=701·5 | 0·890 |
| Food high in fat, sugar or sweeteners (including stuffed pastry) | U=260·0 | 1·000 | U=170·0 | 0·085 | U=249·0 | 0·832 | U=302·5 | 0·138 | U=395·5 | 0·806 | U=333·5 | 0·280 |
| Fried foods | U=67·0 | 0·051 | U=130·0 | 0·747 | U=123·5 | 0·620 | U=318·0 | 0·595 | U=328·0 | 0·698 | U=307·0 | 0·487 |
| Deli meats | U=178·5 | 0·431 | U=172·0 | 0·355 | U=198·0 | 0·703 | U=690·0 | 0·528 | U=551·5 | 0·046 | U=724·0 | 0·766 |
| Presence of at least one type of unfavourable food | U=409·5 | 0·808 | U=316·0 | 0·096 | U=403·0 | 0·730 | U=100·0 | 0·082 | U=179·0 | 0·866 | U=165·5 | 0·659 |
| Food offerings in vending machines located near or in dining halls | ||||||||||||
| At least 75 % of contents of good nutritional value | N/A | N/A | N/A | U=170·0 | 0·395 | U=117·0 | 0·029 | U=190·0 | 0·723 | |||
| Food offerings at the child-care service | ||||||||||||
| Number of foods/beverages with good nutritional value | r s=0·283 | 0·035 | r s=0·147 | 0·281 | r s=0·427 | 0·001 | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||
| Presence of at least one food or beverage of low nutritional value | U=345·5 | 0·709 | U=300·0 | 0·253 | U=355·5 | 0·838 | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||
| Policy and organizational environment | ||||||||||||
| Menus planned by a nutritionist | – | U=28·5 | 0·203 | U=43·5 | 0·488 | – | U=327·0 | 0·012 | U=388·0 | 0·068 | ||
| Menus planned with student input | – | U=406·5 | 0·860 | U=402·0 | 0·804 | – | U=664·5 | 0·149 | U=470·5 | 0·001 | ||
| Meal service (or food service) provided | – | U=583·5 | <0·001 | U=802·5 | 0·025 | – | NA‡ | NA‡ | ||||
| Food committee | ||||||||||||
| Presence of at least one regular food committee | – | U=763·5 | 0·817 | U=685·0 | 0·357 | – | U=661·0 | 0·135 | U=517·0 | 0·004 | ||
| Student involvement in food committees overall | – | U=41·0 | 0·533 | U=28·5 | 0·186 | – | U=331·0 | 0·712 | U=254·5 | 0·083 | ||
| Length of lunch period (min) | – | r s=0·033 | 0·751 | r s=0·222 | 0·033 | – | r s=0·193 | 0·099 | r s=0·298 | 0·010 | ||
| Menu cycle running four or more weeks | – | U=462·5 | 0·744 | U=454·5 | 0·659 | – | U=273·5 | 0·015 | U=271·0 | 0·013 | ||
| Physical environment | ||||||||||||
| Locations for eating lunch at the school | ||||||||||||
| Presence of drinking fountains (in the room or near the entrance) or washrooms | U=312·0 | 0·004 | U=416·0 | 0·068 | U=520·0 | 0·451 | U=399·5 | 0·042 | U=386·5 | 0·029 | U=480·0 | 0·257 |
| Food outlets near the school | ||||||||||||
| Fast-food restaurants | U=974·5 | 0·081 | – | U=570·0 | <0·001 | U=518·5 | 0·087 | – | U=633·0 | 0·595 | ||
| Family-style restaurants | U=1001·5 | 0·292 | – | U=1011·5 | 0·324 | U=575·0 | 0·553 | – | U=611·5 | 0·841 | ||
| Diners (arena, mobile canteen) | U=796·5 | 0·018 | – | U=1025·0 | 0·499 | U=505·0 | 0·007 | – | U=635·5 | 0·150 | ||
| Convenience stores, filling stations and pharmacies | U=621·5 | 0·483 | – | U=653·0 | 0·681 | U=211·0 | 0·419 | – | U=162·5 | 0·102 | ||
| Grocery stores, supermarkets | U=818·5 | 0·005 | – | U=1161·0 | 0·682 | U=728·5 | 0·996 | – | U=672·5 | 0·568 | ||
| Other food outlets (e.g. dairy bars) | U=833·0 | 0·036 | – | U=764·5 | 0·009 | U=633·0 | 0·163 | – | U=717·5 | 0·567 | ||
| Economic environment | ||||||||||||
| Presence of food assistance measures | ||||||||||||
| At school | ||||||||||||
| Breakfasts | U=264·5 | 0·036 | U=420·5 | 0·776 | U=264·0 | 0·034 | U=486·5 | 0·918 | U=387·5 | 0·191 | U=474·5 | 0·802 |
| Snacks during the day (regular) | U=652·5 | 0·231 | U=671·5 | 0·302 | U=443·0 | 0·002 | U=206·0 | 0·373 | U=198·0 | 0·305 | U=187·5 | 0·226 |
| Tickets to buy breakfast or lunch at the cafeteria | U=319·0 | 0·967 | U=222·0 | 0·172 | U=308·0 | 0·847 | U=686·0 | 0·256 | U=577·5 | 0·030 | U=719·5 | 0·411 |
| Number of food assistance measures | r s=0·186 | 0·065 | r s=0·103 | 0·311 | r s=0·340 | 0·001 | r s=0·092 | 0·413 | r s=0·223 | 0·046 | r s=0·132 | 0·242 |
| Menu price (CAN$) | r s=0·254 | 0·069 | r s=0·117 | 0·410 | r s=0·261 | 0·062 | r s=0·200 | 0·083 | r s=0·088 | 0·451 | r s=0·261 | 0·023 |
| At the child-care service | ||||||||||||
| After-school snacks (regular) | U=162·5 | 0·004 | U=364·5 | 0·886 | U=151·0 | 0·002 | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||
| Food provided as an emergency food measure | U=556·5 | 0·004 | U=806·5 | 0·541 | U=596·0 | 0·012 | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||
| Sociocultural environment | ||||||||||||
| At school | ||||||||||||
| Organization of food tastings | – | U=165·5 | 0·505 | U=171·0 | 0·581 | – | U=480·0 | 0·224 | U=520·0 | 0·438 | ||
| Student volunteers involved in food services | – | U=262·5 | 0·018 | U=319·0 | 0·125 | – | U=637·0 | 0·249 | U=470·0 | 0·005 | ||
| Sale of food during fundraising campaigns | ||||||||||||
| Presence of foods or beverages of low nutritional value | U=379·5 | 0·092 | U=475·0 | 0·695 | U=436·5 | 0·357 | U=532·0 | 0·659 | U=492·0 | 0·365 | U=566·0 | 0·963 |
| Organization of special events | ||||||||||||
| Presence of foods or beverages of low nutritional value | U=622·0 | 0·018 | U=835·5 | 0·539 | U=849·0 | 0·613 | U=386·5 | 0·112 | U=416·0 | 0·223 | U=494·0 | 0·810 |
| At the child-care service | ||||||||||||
| Organization of food tastings | – | U=218·5 | 0·014 | U=337·0 | 0·356 | – | N/A | N/A | ||||
| Presence of foods or beverages of low nutritional value | U=5·5 | 0·406 | U=8·0 | 0·813 | U=7·0 | 0·632 | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||
| Organization of kitchen or culinary activities | – | U=558·5 | 0·009 | U=710·5 | 0·209 | – | N/A | N/A | ||||
| Presence of foods or beverages of low nutritional value | U=254·5 | 0·401 | U=230·0 | 0·188 | U=173·0 | 0·014 | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||
| Holidays and special occasions | ||||||||||||
| Presence of foods or beverages of low nutritional value | U=102·5 | 0·318 | U=84·5 | 0·158 | U=114·0 | 0·459 | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||
LICO, low-income cut-off; U, Mann–Whitney U test; r s, Spearman’s rho; N/A, not applicable; –, the association was not tested due to lack of relevance.
*
Schools that did not have food-related facilities were not surveyed.
†
The secondary schools as a whole offered soya milk or beverages.
‡
The secondary schools as a whole had a meal service.