Associations among Food Security, School Meal Participation, and Students’ Diet Quality in the First School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study

Abstract

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 updated the nutrition standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs (NSLP and SBP) and expanded universal free meals’ availability in low-income schools. Past studies have shown that school meals are an important resource for children in food-insecure households. This analysis used data from the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study to classify students as food insecure (FI), marginally secure (MS), or food secure (FS). Diet quality from school and nonschool foods that students consumed was assessed using Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2010 scores. Chi-squared and two-tailed t-tests were conducted to compare school meal participation, students’ energy intakes, and diet quality across food security groups. FI and MS students were significantly more likely to participate in NSLP than FS students (79%, 71%, and 49%, respectively). SBP participation followed a similar pattern but was lower (38% FI, 33% MS, and 16% FS). Compared to FS students, FI and MS students more likely attended schools offering SBP, universal free meals, or afterschool snacks and suppers. School meals contributed significantly more energy to FI and MS students’ diets than to FS students (22%, 20%, and 13%, respectively). All groups’ dietary intakes from school foods were of higher quality than non-school foods. These findings highlight the role of school meals in meeting the energy and diet quality needs of FI and MS students.

Added Sugars in School Meals and the Diets of School-Age Children

“…The potential for schools to positively influence children's diets has long been recognized. Almost all public schools in the U.S. participate in the school meal programs-the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP) [19,20]. On an average school day in 2019, 29.6 million children, or about half of the student population, ate a school lunch and 14.8 million children ate a school breakfast [21,22].…”

Strengthening the Public Health Impacts of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Through Policy

“…Thus, SNAP is well positioned to promote healthier eating patterns and mitigate health inequities by aligning its programs and policies with the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Similar changes have been made to other federal nutrition programs, such as the USDA National School Lunch Program and the USDA Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, and have led to improvements in diet quality (42,110). Moreover, SNAP touches nearly a quarter of a million food retailers and provides billions of dollars in subsidies toward food purchases annually (85,132).…”

Breakfast and School-Related Outcomes in Children and Adolescents in the US: A Literature Review and its Implications for School Nutrition Policy

“…Much of this work has targeted improving access to and the quality of the School Breakfast Program (SBP) and National School Lunch Program (NSLP) given the considerable amount of time spent and food consumed at school by this population [ 16 , 17 ]. In addition, stakeholders have recognized that students living in low-income households and struggling with food insecurity need additional nutrition supports, such as school meals at low or no cost, in order to address and reduce disparities that compromise their growth and learning [ 18 , 19 ]. The efforts to expand school meal access and reduce food insecurity became, and continue to be, even more urgent due to the economic and public health fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and the pandemic’s disruption to normal school meal delivery [ 20 , 21 ].…”