The Association Between School Meal Offers and Well-being, Learning Culture, Motivation, and School Performance among Norwegian Secondary School Pupils

Abstract

Background While the relationship between diet and nutrition, and school performance has been explored in several studies, there is a lacking number of studies addressing the effect of organized school meals on pupils’ school performance and social health factors. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine the association between the serving of school meals in Norwegian secondary schools and well-being, learning culture, motivation, and school performance among its pupils. Methods The cross-sectional analyses of the present study are founded on data from a larger survey conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, and data from the survey Elevundersøkelsen carried out by the Norwegian Directorate of Education. Data from a total of 817 Norwegian secondary schools were included. Analysis of variance test was used to examine the association between the serving of school meals and pupils’ well-being, learning culture, motivation, and school performance. Results Results showed no association between the availability of school meals and higher scores of either well-being, learning culture, motivation, or school performance. Conclusion The present study found no association between the serving of school meals in Norwegian secondary schools and well-being, learning culture, motivation, and school performance among its pupils. Further studies are needed to confirm the possible association.