Determinants of a regular intake of a nutritionally balanced school lunch among 10-17-year-old schoolchildren with special reference to sense of coherence.

Background Free nutritionally balanced school lunches are offered to all schoolchildren in basic education in Finland in each school day. Having school lunch on a regular basis has been found to reflect overall eating patterns. However, skipping part of or even the entire lunch is common. The present study investigated the determinants of the regular consumption of a nutritionally balanced school lunch among schoolchildren, with special reference to the role of sense of coherence (SOC). Methods In total, 887 children (457 girls and 424 boys), aged 10–17 years from three municipalities in Eastern Finland, filled in a web-based questionnaire in class during a school day and reported eating pa…