142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

299449
Factors Associated with Student Use of School-Based Salad Bar

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014

Lori Andersen, MEd, CHES , Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA
Leann Myers, PhD , Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA
Keelia O'Malley, MPH , Prevention Research Center, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA
Adrienne Mundorf, MPH , Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA
Carolyn C. Johnson, PhD , Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA
Childhood obesity is a major public health issue in the United States.  Fruit and vegetable consumption has been examined as one component of childhood obesity.  School-based salad bars have been proposed as a mechanism for increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in youth.  The aim of this study was to examine factors (demographics, knowledge, preferences, and social support) associated with use of a school-based salad bar.  Data were collected from self-administered student surveys (n=702) from 12 public schools currently operating a salad bar.  Descriptive statistics and bivariate relationships were analyzed; generalized linear models were used for multivariable analyses.  Preliminary results suggest that younger students were more likely to salad bar users than students who were older (p=0.0003), and that non-black students were more likely to use the SB (OR: 0.42, CI: 0.26-0.66).  SB users were also more likely to have higher knowledge of nutrition (OR: 1.06, CI: 1.03-1.10) and healthier preferences (OR: 1.30, CI: 1.20-1.41) than non-users.  Increased peer/parent/student modeling and support increase the odds of SB usage in a dose-response manner,  In a preliminary analysis, this study determined several factors salient to salad bar usage.  Findings from this research will help guide future interventions aimed at increasing usage of salad bars in school settings.

Learning Areas:

Chronic disease management and prevention
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Diversity and culture
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Identify characteristics of students who define themselves as users of school-based salad bars. Differentiate between characteristics of students who use school-based salad bars and students who do not use school-based salad bars. Formulate ideas about how to make school-based salad bars more effective in their schools.

Keyword(s): Adolescents, Nutrition

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: As a PhD candidate, I am the study coordinator for this project. I was involved in the design and implementation of the project. I oversaw data collection and am responsible for data management and data analyses for this project. I have been involved in several studies examining obesity and adolescent health both domestically and internationally.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3317.0: Nutrition in Schools