Abstract
Meal Programs Available Preschool-12
US Department of Agriculture. Child nutrition programs. http://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/child-nutrition-programs. Accessed June 1, 2017.
Food Research and Action Center. Effective state budget investments in nutrition programs to address hunger in 2016. http://frac.org/pdf/advocates-guide-to-state-budget-investments.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2017.
US Department of Agriculture. Child nutrition programs: Annual summary of food and nutrition service programs. https://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/pd/annual.xls. Accessed June 1, 2017.
National School Lunch Program | |
Children participating daily | 30,390,000 |
Total lunches served annually | 5,052,000,000 |
Percent free | 66.6% |
Percent reduced-price | 6.7% |
Total after-school snacks served annually | 211,000,000 |
School Breakfast Program | |
Children participating daily | 14,569,000 |
Total breakfasts served annually | 2,448,000,000 |
Percent free or reduced price | 85.2% |
Summer Food Service Program | |
Total meals served annually | 153,000,000 |
Oliveria V. Food assistance landscape: FY 2014 annual report. EIB-137. Economic Research Service website. http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/1806461/eib137.pdf. Published March 2015. Accessed June 1, 2017.
US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. Final Rule Nutrition Standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs—January 2012. http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/dietaryspecs.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2017.
School Nutrition Association. The School Nutrition Trends Report 2015 Summary. https://schoolnutrition.org/uploadedFiles/Resources_and_Research/Research/SNA2015TrendsSummary.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2016.
Logan CW, Connor P, Harvill EL, et al. Community eligibility provision evaluation. Food and Nutrition Service website. 2014. http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/CEPEvaluation.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2017.
US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) elections by state school year 2014-15. http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/cn/state-cep-election-data.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2016.
Standards and Meal Patterns for Reimbursable Meals
US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. Final Rule Nutrition Standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs—January 2012. http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/dietaryspecs.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2017.
US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. National School Lunch Program (NSLP). https://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp/national-school-lunch-program-nslp. Accessed December 15, 2017.
Food Waste
US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. Food waste reduction in school meals programs. http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/hsmrs/Iowa/foodwastereduction.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2017.
US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. Strategies for Successful Implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, Implementation Research Brief: Plate Waste. https://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/ops/HHFKA-PlateWaste.pdf. Published January 2016. Accessed June 1, 2017.
Time to Eat
US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. Food waste reduction in school meals programs. http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/hsmrs/Iowa/foodwastereduction.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2017.
Water Access
US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. Child Nutrition Reauthorization 2010: Water availability during National School Lunch Program meal service, 2011. https://www.fns.usda.gov/water-availability-during-nslp-meal-service. Accessed February 25, 2018.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Increasing access to drinking water in schools. 2014. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/npao/pdf/water_access_in_schools_508.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2017.
Smart Snacks and Competitive Foods
US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. Smart Snacks in School: USDA’s All Foods in Schools Standards. https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/tools-schools-focusing-smart-snacks. Accessed February 25, 2018.
School Nutrition Program Initiatives
Koch P, Wolf R, Graziose M, Gray HL, Trent R, Uno C. FoodCorps: Creating healthy school environments. FoodCorps website. 2017. https://foodcorps.org/cms/assets/uploads/2016/06/FoodCorps-Creating-Healthy-School-Environments-Teachers-College.pdf. Accessed February 19, 2018.
US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. Food waste reduction in school meals programs. http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/hsmrs/Iowa/foodwastereduction.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2017.
Joshi A, Henderson T, Ratcliffe MM, Feenstra G. Evaluation for transformation: A cross-sectoral evaluation framework for farm to school, National Farm to School Network, 2014. National Farm to School Network website. http://www.farmtoschool.org/Resources/Framework-08-25-14_web.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2017.
Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. The Farm to School Census. https://farmtoschoolcensus.fns.usda.gov. Accessed June 1, 2017.
- •$789 million invested in local communities through farm-to-school purchases, a 105% increase over the first USDA Farm to School Census in school year 2011-2012; and
- •7,101 school gardens, representing an increase of 42% from the previous census.
US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. K-12 schools reducing, recovering, and recycling food waste. http://www.usda.gov/oce/foodwaste/resources/K12_schools.html. Accessed June 1, 2017.
Wellness Policies: Evaluating Progress and Potential
US Department of Agriculture. Local school wellness policy implementation under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. Federal Register Vol. 79, No. 38, pages 10693-10706. http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/Local_School_Wellness_Proposed_Rule_022614.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2017.
- Piekarz E.
- Schermbeck R.
- Young S.K.
- Lieder J.
- Ziemann M.
- Chriqui J.F.
Nutrition Education and Promotion
- •targets specific behaviors or practices;
- •enhances the interests and motivations of targeted youth, taking into consideration cultural diversity;
- •uses appropriate behavior change strategies to provide relevant knowledge and teach behavior change skills, including self-assessment and goal-setting;
- •includes experiences in growing and preparing food;
- •delivers coherent and clearly focused curricula linked closely to national and local educational standards;
- •uses active methods, including innovative multimedia technology tools;
- •devotes adequate time and intensity to result in behavior change; and
- •provides appropriate teacher training and support.34,37
- Piekarz E.
- Schermbeck R.
- Young S.K.
- Lieder J.
- Ziemann M.
- Chriqui J.F.
- Piekarz E.
- Schermbeck R.
- Young S.K.
- Lieder J.
- Ziemann M.
- Chriqui J.F.
Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Nutrition educator competencies for promoting healthy individuals, communities, and food systems. https://www.sneb.org/clientuploads/directory/Documents/SNEB-nutrition-educator-competencies.pdf. Published 2016. Accessed April 16, 2018.
Food and Beverage Marketing at School
Federal Trade Commission. A review of food marketing to children and adolescents: Follow up report. 2012. https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/review-food-marketing-children-and-adolescents-follow-report/121221foodmarketingreport.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2017.
Harris JL, Haraghey KS, Choi YY, Fleming-Milici F. Parents’ attitudes about food marketing to children: 2012 to 2015. UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. 2017. http://www.uconnruddcenter.org/files/Pdfs/Rudd%20Center%20Parent%20Attitudes%20Report%202017.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2017.
Roles and Responsibilities
School Nutrition Association. Professional standards resources. https://schoolnutrition.org/ProfessionalStandards/Resources/. Accessed June 1, 2017.
School Nutrition Association. Internship program. http://schoolnutrition.org/Internships/. Accessed June 1, 2017.
Conclusions
- •promotion of healthful choices at school through nutrition standards, snack guidelines, and nutrition education to provide students with the tools to make lifelong healthful decisions in terms of food and nutrition;
- •development and implementation of comprehensive local school policies to enhance the food and learning environments of children and promote student wellness;
- •resources, training, best practices, and technical assistance from the USDA and other agencies that are easily accessible to assist schools to develop and fully implement strong programs and policies;
- •research-based interventions that encourage student selection and consumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains;
- •collaborative work between the USDA and the US Department of Education to establish best practices for schedules incorporating sufficient time for students to eat school meals;
- •nutrition education standards to help ensure consistency so that students preschool-12 receive effective, evidence-based nutrition education through adequate funding, professional development, curricula, and resources;
- •credentialed professionals who are uniquely qualified to lead school nutrition programs and oversee the development of training materials for dietetics students and school nutrition professionals;
- •dietetics education about school nutrition programs, including, but not limited to, didactic courses and dietetics internship rotations at school nutrition sites; and
- •quantitative and qualitative research documenting school nutrition program effectiveness. This includes designing, implementing, and evaluating innovative programs such as school salad bars, culinary education, healthful food promotion, farm-to-school programs, and sustainability initiatives. Research is also needed on how best to scale up existing effective programs. This research agenda will contribute to improved health of the nation’s children.
References
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US Department of Agriculture. Child nutrition programs. http://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/child-nutrition-programs. Accessed June 1, 2017.
Food Research and Action Center. Effective state budget investments in nutrition programs to address hunger in 2016. http://frac.org/pdf/advocates-guide-to-state-budget-investments.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2017.
US Department of Agriculture. Child nutrition programs: Annual summary of food and nutrition service programs. https://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/pd/annual.xls. Accessed June 1, 2017.
Oliveria V. Food assistance landscape: FY 2014 annual report. EIB-137. Economic Research Service website. http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/1806461/eib137.pdf. Published March 2015. Accessed June 1, 2017.
US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. Final Rule Nutrition Standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs—January 2012. http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/dietaryspecs.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2017.
School Nutrition Association. The School Nutrition Trends Report 2015 Summary. https://schoolnutrition.org/uploadedFiles/Resources_and_Research/Research/SNA2015TrendsSummary.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2016.
Logan CW, Connor P, Harvill EL, et al. Community eligibility provision evaluation. Food and Nutrition Service website. 2014. http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/CEPEvaluation.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2017.
US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) elections by state school year 2014-15. http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/cn/state-cep-election-data.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2016.
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US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. National School Lunch Program (NSLP). https://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp/national-school-lunch-program-nslp. Accessed December 15, 2017.
US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. Food waste reduction in school meals programs. http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/hsmrs/Iowa/foodwastereduction.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2017.
US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. Strategies for Successful Implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, Implementation Research Brief: Plate Waste. https://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/ops/HHFKA-PlateWaste.pdf. Published January 2016. Accessed June 1, 2017.
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US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. Smart Snacks in School: USDA’s All Foods in Schools Standards. https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/tools-schools-focusing-smart-snacks. Accessed February 25, 2018.
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Article info
Publication history
Footnotes
This Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics position was adopted by the House of Delegates Leadership Team on October 16, 1994 and reaffirmed September 12, 1999; May 9, 2007; and March 2013. The Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior Board of Directors approved the paper on November 16, 1994 and reaffirmed on May 28, 2017 and January 2, 2018. The School Nutrition Association Board of Directors approved the paper on June 10, 2010 and November 20, 2017. This position is in effect until December 31, 2025. Position papers should not be used to indicate endorsement of products or services. All requests to use portions of the position or republish in its entirety must be directed to the Academy at [email protected]
Authors: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Dayle Hayes, MS, RD (Nutrition for the Future, Inc, Billings, MT); Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior: Isobel R. Contento, PhD (Teachers College Columbia University, New York, NY); School Nutrition Association: Carol Weekly, RD, SNS (Queen Creek Unified School District, AZ).
STATEMENT OF POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST Dayle Hayes has had consultancies with the US Department of Agriculture, multiple state departments of education and agriculture, American Egg Board, California Walnuts, National Dairy Council and state/regional dairy councils, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and state beef councils, National Peanut Board, Potatoes USA, The Mushroom Council, US Highbush Blueberry Council, Clif Bar, Barilla USA, and General Mills. No potential conflict of interest was reported by the other authors.
FUNDING SUPPORT The authors received no funding for this article.
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Reviewers: Feon Cheng, PhD, MPH, RDN, CHTS-CP (Academy Research, International, and Scientific Affairs, Chicago, IL); Jennifer Folliard, MPH, RDN (formerly with Academy Policy Initiatives & Advocacy, Washington DC); Joan Giampaoli, PhD, RDN (California State University, Chico, CA); Samantha Kimball, MPH, RDN (SK Nutrition Inc, Chicago, IL); Melissa Pflugh Prescott, PhD, RDN (Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO); Management in Food and Nutrition Systems dietetic practice group (Barbara J. Pyper, MS, RD, SNS, FCSI, FAND, An Apple a Day, LLC, Seattle, WA); Marlene Schwartz, PhD, Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Hartford, CT); Public Health/Community Nutrition dietetic practice group (Sally Squires, MS, Powell Tate, Washington, DC).
Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior Reviewers: Laura Bellows, PhD, MPH, RDN (Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO); Meg Bruening, PhD, MPH, RD (Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ); Virginia C. Stage, PhD, RDN, LDN (East Carolina University Greenville, NC).
School Nutrition Association Reviewers: Carolyn Bednar, PhD, RDN (Texas Woman’s University Denton, TX); Maria Hall, MS, RD, LDN, SNS (Walpole Public Schools, Walpole MA); Deborah S. Taylor, RDN, LD, SNS (Oklahoma City Public Schools, Oklahoma City. OK); Sandra Voss, MS, RDN, SNS (Marquardt School District 15, Glendale Heights, IL).
Academy Positions Committee Workgroup: Penny E. McConnell, MS, RDN, SNS (retired) (chair); Valaree M. Williams, MS, RDN, CSO, (University of Colorado Health System, Aurora, CO); Mary Kay Meyer, PhD, RD, FAND (University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL) (content advisor).
We thank the reviewers for their many constructive comments and suggestions. The reviewers were not asked to endorse this position or the supporting paper.