Eating habits and carotenoid skin content among children based on their attendance at the school meals: A cross-sectional pilot study

Objective: The promotion of a healthy diet, such as the Mediterranean Diet (MD), among childhood is of a particular importance, since eating behaviors learned early in life have been shown to be maintained into adolescence and adulthood. The most efficient intervention in childhood is the active involvement of the schools. Design: The aim of this study was to evaluate the adherence to the MD model and the skin carotenoid levels among children divided by their school lunch attendance. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 132 pupils (64 girls and 68 boys), divided between children who ate lunch at school (44%) and at home (56%). The children who had meals provided by the school participated in activities promoting the health benefits of fruits and vegetables. All participants underwent anthropometric measurements and assessment of the MD adherence and the physical activity using KIDMED and PAQ-C questionnaires, respectively, and skin carotenoid content using the Veggie Meter (R). Results: We found mean KIDMED and PAQ-C scores, while skin carotenoid content was below the normal range in our population sample. Interestingly, children who ate lunch provided by the school had significantly higher carotenoid scores with respect to those who had lunch at home (p = 0.005). In multiple regression analyses, we found that carotenoid scores were positively influenced by gender (p = 0.03), school lunch attendance (p = 0.01) and daily vegetable consumption (p = 0.0002) in our children population sample. Conclusions: Our results suggest the importance of promoting a healthy lifestyle at the school to improve eating habits during childhood as a strategy for disease prevention across the lifespan.