Participation in USDA's National School Lunch Program has declined since 2011, driven by fewer full‐price lunch purchases among students not eligible for free or reduced‐price meals. Potential ...explanations include meal price increases for paying students and updated nutrition standards for meals following implementation of the Healthy Hunger‐Free Child Act, as well as macroeconomic factors. Longitudinal analyses of full‐price lunch participation at the state and local levels indicate household income and employment trends were significantly associated with participation trends, but lunch price increases and challenges some localities experienced implementing new nutrition standards may have played a role as well.
We use variation in state kindergarten eligibility dates to explore the protective effects of NSLP participation on household food security by focusing on the research question: What is the impact of ...the NSLP on household food insecurity among households with a kindergarten-aged child in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study — Birth cohort (ECLS-B)? Our modeling approach provides consistent support for the contention that the NLSP reduces food insecurity. Additionally, we find that paying full price for school lunch is associated with increases in food insecurity among our low-income sample. Sensitivity analysis demonstrates that controlling for the reduction in child care hours among low-income households does not diminish the size of the NSLP effect. Additionally, school entry is not associated with reductions in food insecurity among families whose incomes are above 185% of the federal poverty line. Finally, our findings are robust to excluding twins. This finding is consistent with a growing literature documenting the benefits of school lunch programs but is unique for the focus on the period of school entry, at time when behavioral and cognitive patterns of school outcomes are being established for the future.
•We use variation in state kindergarten eligibility dates to explore the effects of NSLP on household food security.•We find that the NLSP reduces food insecurity upon school entry, when patterns are being established for the future.•Paying full price for school lunch is associated with increases in food insecurity among our low-income sample.•Reduction in child care hours among low-income households does not diminish the size of the NSLP effect.•School entry is not associated with reductions in food insecurity among households above 185% of the federal poverty line.
Food waste reduction is increasingly seen as a main way to improve sustainability of food systems and efficiency of resource use. The provision of reliable data is a prior element to provide proper ...intervention strategies. Numerous studies carried out to date did not allow to a generalization of results obtained and the lack of standard methods limited data comparability. The most appropriate method for quantifying food waste in large-scale studies has not yet been established for this specific sector. The aim of the present study is to devise a reference methodology for quantifying food waste in school canteens suitable for large-scale studies, time-saving and able to provide reliable and comparable data. Initial servings, plate waste and non-served food are weighed with an electronic scale. Data are separated by dish type and aggregated at school level, whereas results are adjusted to provide comparable data. The data collection process (weighing and data recording) is directly performed by food service personnel, teachers and students. A pre-test in a primary school and a pilot study in four primary schools were conducted with the external support of a single researcher which coordinated different schools at the same time reducing the need for external support. The methodology demonstrated that the data accuracy of weighing methods is not necessarily associated with an increase in time and costs.
•Large-sample studies are crucial to provide national and comparable data on food waste.•A methodology to quantify FW in school canteens in large-scale studies is presented.•An average of 576 students were daily monitored under the supervision of a researcher.•An average of 107 g of avoidable plate waste was produced daily by each participant.
Abstract Background There are currently no national standards for school lunch period length and little is known about the association between the amount of time students have to eat and school food ...selection and consumption. Objective Our aim was to examine plate-waste measurements from students in the control arm of the Modifying Eating and Lifestyles at School study (2011 to 2012 school year) to determine the association between amount of time to eat and school meal selection and consumption. Design We used a prospective study design using up to six repeated measures among students during the school year. Participants/setting One thousand and one students in grades 3 to 8 attending six participating elementary and middle schools in an urban, low-income school district where lunch period lengths varied from 20 to 30 minutes were included. Main outcome measures School food selection and consumption were collected using plate-waste methodology. Statistical analyses performed Logistic regression and mixed-model analysis of variance was used to examine food selection and consumption. Results Compared with meal-component selection when students had at least 25 minutes to eat, students were significantly less likely to select a fruit (44% vs 57%; P <0.0001) when they had <20 minutes to eat. There were no significant differences in entrée, milk, or vegetable selections. Among those who selected a meal component, students with <20 minutes to eat consumed 13% less of their entrée ( P <0.0001), 10% less of their milk ( P <0.0001), and 12% less of their vegetable ( P <0.0001) compared with students who had at least 25 minutes to eat. Conclusions During the school year, a substantial number of students had insufficient time to eat, which was associated with significantly decreased entrée, milk, and vegetable consumption compared with students who had more time to eat. School policies that encourage lunches with at least 25 minutes of seated time might reduce food waste and improve dietary intake.
The current school meal nutrition standards, established in 2010, are not fully aligned with the 2020–2025 Dietary Guideline for Americans (DGA). This study evaluates the potential short-term and ...long-term health and economic benefits of strengthening the school meal standards on added sugars, sodium, and whole grains to be aligned with current guidelines.
We used comparative risk assessment frameworks based on nationally representative data incorporating current demographics, dietary habits, and risk factors of United States children aged 5–18 y from 3 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013–2018). To estimate short-term impact, the model incorporated estimated dietary changes owing to potential new DGA-aligned school meal nutrition standards and the effect of these changes on childhood body mass index (in kg/m2) and blood pressure. To estimate long-term impact, the model further incorporated data on the sustainability of childhood dietary changes into adulthood, and on demographics and risk factors of United States adults, diet-disease associations, and disease-specific national mortality.
In a best-case scenario assuming full school compliance, implementing new DGA-aligned nutritional standards would lower elementary children’s BMI by an average 0.14 (95% UI: 0.08–0.20) kg/m2 and systolic blood pressure by 0.13 (95% UI: 0.06–0.19) (95% mm Hg. Later in life, the new standards were estimated to prevent 10,600 95% uncertainty interval (UI): 4820–16,800) annual deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, and cancer in adulthood; and save 355,000 (95% UI: 175,000–538,000) disability-adjusted life years and $19.3 (95% UI: 9.35–30.3) B in direct and indirect medical costs each year. Accounting for plausible (incomplete) school compliance, implementation would save an estimated 9110 (95% UI: 2740–15,100) deaths, 302,000 (95% UI: 120,000–479,000) disability-adjusted life years, and $15.9 (95% UI: 4.54–27.2) B in healthcare-related costs per year in later adulthood.
Stronger school meal nutrition standards on added sugars, sodium, and whole grains aligned with the 2020–2025 DGA recommendations may improve diet, childhood health, and future adult burdens of CVD, diabetes, cancer, and associated economic costs.
•Nutritional quality of school lunches improved between 1991 and 2010.•Children who eat school lunches are more likely to be obese at kindergarten entry.•Eating school lunches does not predict faster ...growth in obesity in elementary school.
There has been significant national attention to the issue of childhood obesity, leading policymakers to reform the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) to include stricter nutritional requirements. We use data on school lunch menus to document improvements in the nutritional quality of school meals between 1991 and 2010. We then evaluate how this change in nutritional content maps into obesity outcomes, using panel data on a nationally representative cohort of children, tracking them from kindergarten entry in fall 2010 through the end of fifth grade in spring 2016. We find little evidence that participation in the school lunch program leads to weight gain, as measured by changes in obesity, overweight, and BMI. These results suggest that improvements in the nutritional content of school lunches have been largely successful in reversing the previously negative relationship between school lunches and childhood obesity.
Objectives: Although the nutritional status of children is affected by receiving or not receiving school lunch, the actual state of school lunches among children during the coronavirus disease 2019 ...(COVID-19) epidemic has not been clarified. Therefore, we conducted a nationwide survey of the status of school lunch provision from April to October 2020 to clarify the actual situation of school lunches during the COVID-19 epidemic.Methods: In November 2020, we asked 479 elementary and junior high schools across 50 local government areas in Japan about the provision of school lunches on all week days from April 1 to October 31, 2020. The respondents chose from the following answers: "no school lunch," "regular school lunch," "simple school lunch," "unknown," and "closed school/long vacation."Results: There were 205 valid responses (valid response rate: 42.8%). Of the respondents, 80% and 62% of the schools were closed and thus did not provide school lunches in April and May 2020, respectively. Additionally, the provision of a simple school lunch began in late May 2020 and was primarily implemented in areas with high levels of COVID-19 infection. The provision of simple school lunches was not nationwide but limited to long-term implementation (approximately 10–40 days) in 8 of the 50 local government areas.Conclusion: Nationally, most schools were closed in April and May; accordingly, no school lunches were provided. In addition, the provision of simple meals began in late May and was mainly implemented in areas with high levels of COVID-19 infection. More detailed surveys, such as the evaluation of individual conditions and analysis of menu contents for simple school lunches, are necessary to evaluate the health and nutritional status of children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To: (i) understand the nutrition attitudes, self-efficacy, knowledge and practices of school food-service personnel (SFP) in Nebraska and (ii) identify potential barriers that schools face in ...offering healthy school meals that meet the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrition standards.
Convergent parallel mixed-methods study.
Kindergarten-12th grade schools in Nebraska, USA.ParticipantsSFP (260 survey participants; fifteen focus group participants) working at schools that participate in the USDA National School Lunch Program.
Mixed-methods themes identified include: (i) 'Mixed attitudes towards healthy meals', which captured a variety of conflicting positive and negative attitudes depending on the situation; (ii) 'Positive practices to promote healthy meals', which captured offering, serving and promotion practices; (iii) 'Mixed nutrition-related knowledge', which captured the variations in knowledge depending on the nutrition concept; and (iv) 'Complex barriers', which captured challenges with time, support and communication.
The study produced relevant findings to address the barriers identified by SFP. Implementing multicomponent interventions and providing training to SFP may help reduce some of the identified barriers of SFP.
To prevent the spread of COVID-19, elementary and junior high schools across Japan were temporarily closed and school lunches unavailable from March to late May 2020. From December 2020 to January ...2021, a self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted among 14 members and associate members of the Association of School Food and Nutrition Education, who are nutrition teachers and school nutrition staffs. The first action after the temporary closure of schools was to control foodstuffs, and the handling of fresh food and daily food products was either suspended or cancelled. The most difficult aspect of the suspension of school lunches was food management. Simultaneously, refunds had to be arranged for payments to vendors and school lunch fees. During school closures, cleaning work was carried out and preparations made to restart school lunches (ascertaining the number of meals for dispersed students, preparing meeting documents), and information was distributed using information and communications technology (ICT) or print. After schools reopened, school lunches were provided in line with COVID-19 prevention measures. To ensure disaster-preparedness, the following measures were implemented: maintaining close contact with local government, making various arrangements with food suppliers and food service contractors, creating and developing appropriate menus, and accumulating ICT teaching materials.
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