Effect and Impact of School Snacking Policy on Snacking Behaviour and Dental Caries Among Children in Chennai City: A Cross-Sectional Study

Aim: The study was planned to assess the effect and impact of snacking policies on snacking behaviour and caries experience among school-going children in Chennai city.Material and methods: An exploratory cross-sectional survey was conducted to assess the existence of snacking policies among schools in Chennai city.Following the results of the survey, the schools were categorized into schools with and without a snacking policy.The effect and impact of the policy were assessed cross-sectionally among the upper kindergarten and fourth-grade children, respectively.The effect of the snacking policy was assessed by inspecting the snack boxes of the upper kindergarten children (N=207) and (N=80).The impact of the snacking policy was assessed among fourth graders through the child's food preference, snacking behaviour in the home environment, and caries experience, along with snack box inspection (N=136) and (N=70).The data was collected and statistically assessed using the chisquare and Mann-Whitney tests.Results: A statistically significant difference (p≤0.01) was found between the snack boxes of fourth-grade children enrolled in schools with policy.Children studying in schools with policy had healthier food choices.The number needed to be exposed to a protective factor (NNE p ) in relation to the effect and impact of the policy after six years was 10 and 6, respectively.Statistically, no significant difference was noted in caries experience.Conclusions: The implementation of a snacking policy in schools can positively influence the snacking behaviour and food preference of the school children, and more actions should be taken by the stakeholders to improve the oral health of school children.