Effectiveness of a Canteen Take Away concept in promoting healthy eating patterns among employees.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of a relatively novel concept of providing employees with healthy ready-to-heat meals to bring home to their families, here referred to as Canteen Take Away (CTA). DESIGN: Employees' dietary intake on two weekdays when they received free CTA was compared with that on weekdays when they did not receive CTA. Four non-consecutive 24 h dietary recalls were applied to assess dietary intake on a daily basis. Moreover, a digital photographic method was used to assess evening meal intake for three consecutive weeks. Data were analysed using a mixed-effects model. SETTING: A financial worksite offering CTA. SUBJECTS: Twenty-seven employees. RESULTS: Overall dietary quality as expressed by the energy density of the food (excluding beverages) was found to be significantly lower on days consuming CTA meals compared to days not consuming CTA with regard to evening meal intake (average difference: -187 (95 % CI -225, -149) kJ/100 g) and on a daily basis (average difference: -77 (95 % CI -132, -21) kJ/100 g). Other favourable differences included increased vegetable intake (average difference: 83 (95 % CI 67, 98) g/evening meal, 109 (95 % CI 62, 155) g/d). CONCLUSION: The present study shows that providing healthy take-away dinners has potential for promoting healthy dietary habits among employees. This reinforces the importance of availability and convenience as effective tools to promote healthy eating habits.

Evaluation of a digital method to assess evening meal intake in a free-living adult population.

BACKGROUND: In recent years new applications of technologies, including digital images, to capture dietary behaviour in real time have been explored. OBJECTIVES: To validate a digital method for estimating evening meal intake in a free-living adult population, and to examine the feasibility of the method for recording evening meal intake over a prolonged period of time. DESIGN: The digital method was compared against weighed records of 19 participants' usual evening meals for five consecutive days. Two trained image analysts independently estimated the weight of individual foods within the meals into major food categories, and the nutrient content was calculated. A second study included interviews with 28 participants recording their evening meals on weekdays for three consecutive weeks to get their perspective on the feasibility of the method. RESULTS: High correlation coefficients between the digital method and weighed records were found for all measured food categories and nutrients. Comparable means and acceptable limits of agreement (mean difference +/- 2 SD) were found with regard to macronutrient distribution (e.g. fat content -5 to 6 E%), energy density (-75 to 91 kJ/100 g), and energy-adjusted foods (e.g. fruit and vegetable content -241 to 236 g/10 MJ). The majority of the participants expressed satisfaction with the method and were willing to record their evening meals for 1 month or more using the digital method. CONCLUSION: The digital method is valid and feasible for evening meal estimation in real-time where a prolonged recording period of participants' meals is needed.