Adolescent Student Use of School-Based Salad Bars

Area of Science:

• Public Health Nutrition
• School-based Interventions
• Childhood Obesity Prevention

Background:

• Childhood obesity remains a significant public health issue in the U.S.
• Increasing fruit and vegetable (F/V) intake is a key strategy to combat obesity by reducing consumption of energy-dense, high-fat foods.
• Salad bars (SBs) were implemented in Orleans Parish public schools to improve student access to F/V during lunch.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify factors associated with student utilization of salad bars in Orleans Parish public schools.
• To inform the development of targeted school-based interventions aimed at increasing F/V consumption.

Main Methods:

• Surveys were administered to 7th-12th grade students (N=702) in Orleans Parish, assessing salad bar use, demographics, food preferences, nutrition knowledge, and social support.
• Generalized estimating equations were employed to account for school-level clustering and determine associations between independent variables and salad bar use.

Main Results:

• Sixty percent of surveyed students reported using the salad bars.
• Non-African-American students (OR=2.35) and students with a high preference for healthy foods (OR=2.41) were more likely to use salad bars.
• Students who encouraged others to consume F/V demonstrated a higher likelihood of salad bar use (p=.015).

Conclusions:

• Individual and interpersonal factors significantly influence student salad bar usage.
• Findings provide a basis for designing effective school-based programs to boost salad bar adoption and F/V intake among students.