Possible effects of a free, healthy school meal on overall meal frequency among 10-12-year-olds in Norway: the School Meal Project.

A total of 164 children at baseline; 55 children in the intervention group and 109 children in the control group were included. The serving of a free school meal every day for 1 year did not improve the overall meal frequency in the intervention group compared to the control group. However, children in the intervention group had a lower odds of eating breakfast during weekends compared to the control group in crude analyses [odds ratio (OR) = 0.28 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.09-0.84)] and in adjusted analyses [adjusted for baseline values, gender and socio-economic status) (OR = 0.15 (95% CI 0.03-0.72)]. Studies including larger study samples and therefore more statistical power are needed to further investigate possible effects of school meals on meal frequency. Trial registration ISRCTN61703361, Date of registration: December 3rd, 2018, Retrospectively registered.