Background/objectives: Although higher diet quality is related to higher socioeconomic status among adults, it is unclear whether this result could be generalized to children. Elementary and junior high school lunch programs may contribute to the reduction of socioeconomic disparities in diet quality. We examined the association between diet quality and household income level in school children in Japan according to age subgroups.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 866 household members (435 men and 431 women) aged 6-18 years old from the 2014 National Health and Nutrition Survey, Japan. Dietary intake was assessed by 1 day semi-weighted household dietary record, and the Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top scores (range 0-70) were calculated. The household income was assessed by low, middle, and high. Associations between diet quality and household income levels were examined by age subgroups (6-14 years and 15-18 years), i.e., those with and without school lunch programs RESULTS: Higher dietary scores were observed in those with higher household income in the 15-18 year-olds; the multivariate adjusted mean (95% CI) of diet score was 44.3 (39.0-49.7), 48.8 (47.1-50.6), 51.6 (49.7-53.4) in children with the lowest household income level through the highest, respectively (P for trend = 0.003). However, there were no significant associations among those who were 6-14 years old.
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that school lunch program in elementary and junior high schools might help to reduce socioeconomic disparities in diet quality. The development of healthy food environment in high schools without school lunch programs, should also be considered.