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The Nutritional Quality of Food Provision at UK Government-Funded Holiday Clubs: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Energy and Nutrient Content.

Martina VitaleShannon CrosslandJackie ShinwellPaul B StreteskyMargaret Anne DefeyterIain Andrew Brownlee
Published in: Nutrients (2023)
A large proportion of children are at risk of food insecurity during school holidays in the UK. The government-funded Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme provides free holiday clubs offering at least one healthy meal/day to eligible children and adolescents. This study aims at evaluating the nutritional quality of food provision at HAF holiday clubs, particularly hot/cold and vegetarian/non-vegetarian meals. Menu variants ( n = 2759) from 49 HAF holiday clubs were assessed for adherence to School Food Standards (SFS) and their notional compositional quality, which was scored utilising a novel nutrient-based meal quality index. The median adherence to SFS across all available menus was 70% (IQR 59-79%). Overall, hot variants scored statistically higher menu quality scores than cold variants for both 5-11y (92.3 (80.7-102.7) vs. 80.4 (69.3-90.6)) and 11-18y (73.5 (62.5-85.8) vs. 58.9 (50.0-70.7)) criteria. Cold and hot menu variants tended to score differentially for quality sub-components. These findings highlight areas for potential future improvement in HAF holiday club provision with a tendency for food provision to appear less ideal for attendees for those aged 11-18. Ensuring that children from low-income households have access to a healthy diet is crucial to reduce UK health inequalities.
Keyphrases
  • physical activity
  • palliative care
  • quality improvement
  • copy number
  • mental health
  • young adults
  • healthcare
  • metabolic syndrome
  • cross sectional
  • public health
  • clinical trial
  • climate change
  • weight loss
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