USDA’s child nutrition programs givestudents a better chance for success.Well-nourished children are healthier,more able to learn in school, and morelikely to grow into productivemembers of society. For the low-income children to whom theprograms provide meals and snacksfree or at reduced prices, theprograms may be especially importantin breaking the cycle of poverty.Many of this Nation’s children areserved by one or more of USDA’schild nutrition programs. TheNational School Lunch and SchoolBreakfast Programs provide nutritiousmeals to children in participatingschools: students from low-incomefamilies receive free or reduced-pricemeals. Higher income studentspurchase the meals at “full price,”although their meals are still subsi-dized to a small extent by USDA.USDA also promotes nutrition educa-tion in schools through its TeamNutrition Initiative. The Child andAdult Care Food Program subsidizeshealthy meals and snacks in partici-pating child care centers, familydaycare homes, and adult daycarefacilities. The providers of care arereimbursed for each type of qualifyingmeal (breakfast, lunch/supper, orsnack) they serve. The Summer FoodService Program funds meals for chil-dren in low-income areas when schoolis not in session.
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Informing Food and Nutrition Assistance Policy: 10 Years of Research at ERS / MP-1598
Economic Research Service/USDA
Comstock/© 2007 Jupiterimages Corporation
Research Highlights
Assessing Diet and Health Outcomes
Child nutrition programs can have animportant impact on children’s diets.On an average schoolday, over half ofall U.S. schoolchildren participate inthe National School Lunch Program,and over 17 percent participate in theSchool Breakfast Program. Partici-pating schools must serve lunchesthat meet Federal nutritional require-ments and offer free or reduced-pricelunches to needy children. During thesummer when school is out, somechildren receive meals from theSummer Food Service Program. Chil-dren participating in the Child andAdult Care Food Program may eatmultiple meals and/or snacks eachday at the child care center or familydaycare home where they participate.Many of these participants arepreschoolers, an age crucial forgrowth and development and for theformation of healthy eating habits.
The impact of school meals on nutrition and health outcomes remains unresolved
The school meals programs havereceived the most evaluations of anyof the child nutrition programs, yettheir impact on nutrition and health isuncertain. In FANRP’s comprehensiveliterature review of the effects of foodassistance programs on nutrition andhealth, Fox et al. (2004) concluded thatthe National School Lunch and theSchool Breakfast Programs operationschanged substantially after most ofthe available research was completed.For example, most of the studiespredate the School Meals Initiative forHealthy Children, launched in 1995,which was designed to improve thenutritional quality of school meals(key components of the initiativeincluded revised nutrition standardsfor school meals, a major restructuringof menu planning, and a broad-basednutrition education program). Onecannot assume that findings fromearlier research apply to today’sschool meals programs. While there isevidence that participation in theNational School Lunch Programincreases total household food expen-ditures, existing evidence of theprogram’s impacts on nutrition andhealth outcomes is limited. Researchsuggests that low-income students aremore likely to consume a substantialbreakfast when the School BreakfastProgram is available to them.However, the program’s impact onstudents’ dietary intakes, after theSchool Meals Initiative was imple-mented is unknown. Similarly, theeffects of USDA-funded nutritioneducation on food choices both atschool and elsewhere have not beenevaluated in a nationally representa-tive sample.
Studies of other child nutrition programs’ impact on nutrition and health outcomes are lacking
The review by Fox et al. (2004) foundthat few studies had examined theeffect of the Child and Adult CareFood Program on nutrition and healthoutcomes, and those that had are datedand/or severely limited. The impact ofthe Summer Food Service Program onthe nutrition and health status ofparticipants has not been studied.Evaluations of these programs havebeen limited by the difficulties and costof collecting representative data onprogram participants.
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Informing Food and Nutrition Assistance Policy: 10 Years of Research at ERS / MP-1598
Economic Research Service/USDA
FANRP research has provided insight on numerous issues related to the childnutrition programs. FANRP’s comprehensive review of relevant evaluationstudies found that there was little or no up-to-date information about theeffects of USDA child nutrition programs because most of the previous studiesof the school meal programs’ impact on participants’ nutrition and health wereconducted before the 1995 start of the School Meals Initiative for HealthyChildren that was designed to improve the nutritional quality of school meals.The other child nutrition programs, including the Child Care Food Programand the Summer Food Service Program, have not been well studied, primarilybecause of the difficulty and cost of collecting representative data on programparticipants (see the chapter on “Data Development” for information onFANRP’s efforts to develop data and methodologies that will enhance the abil-ity to study issues related to child nutrition programs in the future).Recent FANRP studies have shown that younger children are more likely thanolder children to participate in school meal programs, and that, while almostall children from food stamp or TANF households receive free school meals,the reverse is not the case. FANRP has conducted a number of congressionallymandated studies regarding program operations, on issues related to platewaste in schools, the Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Program, tiering in the Childand Adult Care Food Program, and direct certification in the National SchoolLunch Program.
Research Summary
Ken Hammond, USDA
The availability of a School Breakfast Program may have beneficial effects for children
Bhattacharya et al. (2004) examinedthe efficacy of school nutritionprograms in improving a broad rangeof dietary outcomes by comparing thenutritional status of students and theirfamilies during the school year withstudents’ nutritional status whenschool is out. Study results suggestedthat the School Breakfast Program isbeneficial for children. The studyfound evidence that children whohave a School Breakfast Programavailable consume a better overalldiet, consume a lower percentage ofcalories from fat, are less likely tohave a low intake of magnesium, andare less likely to have low serumlevels of vitamin C and folate. Forevery outcome examined, SchoolBreakfast Program availability eitherpromoted better outcomes or at theleast did not promote worseoutcomes. While the study indicatedthat the National School Lunchprogram had little detectable effect onchildren’s diet, these results were notas reliable as the school breakfastresults due to methodological issuesrelated to the National School LunchProgram’s widespread availability.
Maternal employment affects children’s nutrition
As a result of the dramatic increase inlabor force participation amongwomen in recent decades, a majorityof women with children are nowemployed outside the home. Economictheory suggests that families in whichmothers work outside the home mustmake tradeoffs between the advan-tages of greater income and the disad-vantages of less time for home foodproduction and involvement in chil-dren’s activities. Crepinsek andBurstein (2004b) examined differencesin nutrition and nutrition-relatedoutcomes among children whosemothers worked full-time, part-time,and not at all. The study found thatworking mothers participate less inmeal planning, shopping, and foodpreparation and the children of full-time working mothers were morelikely to skip morning meals, relymore on away-from-home foodsources, spend more time watchingTV and videos, and face significantlygreater risk of overweight (fig. 3-1).However, for those children partici-pating in Child and Adult Care FoodProgram, participation made substan-tial positive contributions to intakes ofkey nutrients, indicating the importantrole the program may play inpromoting the well-being of childrenof employed mothers (Crepinsek andBurstein, 2004a).
Program Participation
FANRP research on the demographiccharacteristics of school meal partici-pants may help program administra-tors more effectively target theprogram.
School meal participation is lower among older students
A study by Newman and Ralston(2006) that examined the economicand demographic characteristics ofstudents served by the NationalSchool Lunch Program found thatoverall participation in the program(including free, as well as reduced-and full-price meals) was loweramong high school students thanamong children ages 8-13. Thisfinding is partly related to youngerstudents’ being more likely to havelower household incomes and thusmore likely to qualify for free andreduced-price meals. Thirty-fourpercent of students ages 8-13 camefrom families below 130 percent of thepoverty line while only 30 percent ofstudents ages 15-18 did. Previousstudies have also identified greaterfeelings of stigma regarding schoolmeals among older students.
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Informing Food and Nutrition Assistance Policy: 10 Years of Research at ERS / MP-1598
Economic Research Service/USDA
Fig
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re 3-1
Nutrition-related outcomes by maternal employment status
Children of mothers who work full-time have worse outcomes
Percent of children
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