Nutrition policy, food and drinks at school and after school care

The purpose of the paper is to describe food and drinks available in food stands or cantina at Danish schools and food and drinks provided at after school care institutions in Denmark.

The survey was performed in 1999 and self-administered postal questionnaires were sent to all private and public schools and all after school care institutions in Denmark. The participation rate was 70 at schools and 66 at after school care institutions.

In total, 3% of schools and 4% of after school care institutions have a written policy on nutrition. All Danish children have access to milk at school and they can choose between milk with low and high content of fat. Vending machines are rare at schools and are not present at all at after school care institutions. Only 10% of schools offer children sugared carbonated drinks at food stands. Fruit is available daily in 35% of schools, at food stands, and in 18% of the schools, fruit is available on prescription. In after school care institutions, sweets and sugared carbonated drinks are rare. However, juice is served daily in 47% of after school care institutions. Most schools run the food stand at school for profit.

The paper highlights the important aspects of the institutional level as one of six important levels as regards the prevention of obesity and an important level at which to act to increase nutrition habits in school children.