Comments on: Boot Camp for Dinner Ladies with the Naked Chef: A research study of Jamie Oliver’s “Feed Me Better” school lunches program http://winephysicssong.com/2009/11/30/boot-camp-for-dinner-ladies-with-the-naked-chef-a-research-study-of-jamie-olivers-feed-me-better-school-lunches-program/ Howard Barnum's blog on art, music, culture, science, public affairs, philosophy, and life Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:59:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Howard Barnum http://winephysicssong.com/2009/11/30/boot-camp-for-dinner-ladies-with-the-naked-chef-a-research-study-of-jamie-olivers-feed-me-better-school-lunches-program/#comment-655 Howard Barnum Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:30:58 +0000 http://winephysicssong.com/?p=324#comment-655 Matt, good point. I realized after this post I hadn't made it clear that a likely interpretation of the decrease in absenteeism, which includes authorized absences for health reasons, is precisely improved health. The improved test performance might well also be an indirect sign of better health. The authors do point out that "one drawback of our analysis is that we have little information on the health outcomes of children, as well as whether children actually ate the meals or not." And they point out at the beginning of their "costs and benefits" section, that the health benefits they haven't estimated are likely significant. I think it was a main motivation of the project to begin with, and as you also point out, if patterns of healthier eating are set early there are likely to be lifelong benefits that aren't captured in a study like this. I do suspect studies like this (or more importantly ones dealing directly with health effecs) might be definitely helpful in getting such programs, which do have significant cost, into effect in the face of people who say "well of course it's desirable, but can we really afford it?" Matt, good point. I realized after this post I hadn’t made it clear that a likely interpretation of the decrease in absenteeism, which includes authorized absences for health reasons, is precisely improved health. The improved test performance might well also be an indirect sign of better health. The authors do point out that “one drawback of our analysis is that we have little information on the health outcomes of children, as well as whether children actually ate the meals or not.” And they point out at the beginning of their “costs and benefits” section, that the health benefits they haven’t estimated are likely significant. I think it was a main motivation of the project to begin with, and as you also point out, if patterns of healthier eating are set early there are likely to be lifelong benefits that aren’t captured in a study like this.

I do suspect studies like this (or more importantly ones dealing directly with health effecs) might be definitely helpful in getting such programs, which do have significant cost, into effect in the face of people who say “well of course it’s desirable, but can we really afford it?”

]]> By: Matt Leifer http://winephysicssong.com/2009/11/30/boot-camp-for-dinner-ladies-with-the-naked-chef-a-research-study-of-jamie-olivers-feed-me-better-school-lunches-program/#comment-654 Matt Leifer Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:25:28 +0000 http://winephysicssong.com/?p=324#comment-654 Whilst it is great to show that healthy eating improves school grades, it is absolutely not required in order to be a strong supporter of this type of scheme. The main point is that healthy eating improves *health*, regardless or grades, and that the type of foods we are introduced to when we are young are habit forming. Thus, providing healthy food in school ought to eventually lead to a healthier adult population and reduced medical costs. It is nice if people are smart, but the health benefits are likely to vastly outweigh any improvement in grades you might find. Personally, I don't think we need any scientific studies to deduce that a canteen where the only edible food available is chips (unless you are prepared to risk dayglow green "chicken" curry), as was the case in my secondary school, is not a good idea. I still have nightmares about the "home baked" bread rolls we had to eat, which were extremely undercooked apart from a few black burn marks. Whilst it is great to show that healthy eating improves school grades, it is absolutely not required in order to be a strong supporter of this type of scheme. The main point is that healthy eating improves *health*, regardless or grades, and that the type of foods we are introduced to when we are young are habit forming. Thus, providing healthy food in school ought to eventually lead to a healthier adult population and reduced medical costs. It is nice if people are smart, but the health benefits are likely to vastly outweigh any improvement in grades you might find.

Personally, I don’t think we need any scientific studies to deduce that a canteen where the only edible food available is chips (unless you are prepared to risk dayglow green “chicken” curry), as was the case in my secondary school, is not a good idea. I still have nightmares about the “home baked” bread rolls we had to eat, which were extremely undercooked apart from a few black burn marks.

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