1. Prospects for promoting health and performance by school meals in Nordic countries NordForsk # 54761

2. The following specific aims will be studied and compared between the Nordic countries Sweden, Iceland, Finland and Norway; countries with different systems for organizing meals in schools e.g. free cooked school lunch (Sweden and Finland), subsidized cooked school lunch (Iceland) and lunch box brought from home (Norway). Is there a relation between food choices in school and healthiness of total diet with respect to gender, socioeconomic status and own opinion of physical health? (WP1, WP4) What impact does quality and quantity of school lunch have on class room learning behaviour and/or academic achievement among boys and girls? (WP1-2) What impact does the school meal organisation and environment, and social aspects (interaction between staff and pupils and between pupils) have on food choices at school? (WP3-4) What do boys and girls experience as important regarding wanting to eat school lunch? (WP3) AIM: to determine whether overall healthiness of the diet and learning in 10-year old children is associated with school lunches, and to capture main concerns regarding school lunches among children in a Nordic context.

3. Food choices, dietary intake and healthiness of the diet at home and in school Photographs of school lunch trays/lunch boxes Dietary assessment in school Assessment of hunger before and after school lunch Questionnaire about sleep, health and breakfast Questionnaire about the diet at home (Nordic Monitoring)

4. Learning environment, behaviour in the class room and academic achievement Classroom observations Ability to concentrate Learning environment Tests and/or grades

5. Experiences and perspectives of school lunches among children Focus group interviews) Narratives (written stories) Mind maps

6. School meal environment and costs of school meals Costs of school meals Description of school meal environment Organisation around school meals

7. General management, analysis, dissemination Internal communication and external dissemination Economy and internal organisation Ethical application Recruiting schools and pupils Practical guidelines and recommendations based on the study results