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By Matthew Rees

Food and Health Fact #66: Sources of meals and their nutritional quality

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The healthiest source of food for American children is a school, according to a study published Monday by researchers at the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts University. The study, which analyzed consumption patterns of about 21,000 children and 40,000 adults, found that in 2018, 24 percent of the meals children consumed at school were of poor nutritional quality (based on criteria from the American Heart Association and the Healthy Eating Index). The 24 percent figure was lowest of the venues studied, which included meals from grocery stores (45 percent of poor nutritional quality), entertainment venues and food trucks (52 percent), and restaurants (80 percent). Among adults, poor nutritional quality meals came from 33 percent of grocery stores, 44 percent of entertainment venues and food trucks, 51 percent of work sites, and 65 percent of restaurants. Overall, the study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, noted that 32 percent of adults and 49 percent of children have poor quality diets.