Studies show that childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. Today, more than 23 million American children--or nearly one in every three--are overweight or obese. If childhood obesity is left unaddressed, a generation of individuals could face health, social, and economic challenges that promise to stress government…

In school year 1996-97, the Department of Agriculture instituted more stringent requirements for the nutritional content of school meals. The General Accounting Office was asked to study school food-service revenues and expenses and how they had changed since the requirements went into effect. This report contains information of the sources of…

Despite the importance of breakfast, summer, and after-school child nutrition programs, coverage in these programs in Massachusetts is low. This report describes the barriers facing the states School Breakfast, Summer Food Service, and After-School Snack Programs and suggests many innovative solutions and resources that program sponsors can use to…

In 1998, Congress authorized implementation of a 3-year pilot breakfast program involving 4,300 students in elementary schools in 6 school districts representing a range of economic and demographic characteristics. The program began in the 2000-01 school year. This lengthy report presents the findings from the pilot's first year. The study had two…

This report details a study by the United States General Accounting Office (GAO) of food safety in public schools. The study examined: (1) the frequency and causes of reported food-borne illness outbreaks associated with the federal school-meal programs; and (2) the practices that federal, state, and local governments, as well as other food…

A condensation of ideas generated during the 1982 Conference on More with Less, this guide presents methods of saving money, increasing student participation, and influencing decision-makers to maintain school meal programs in the face of reduced federal support. For each topic, specific suggestions, a brief case study, and addresses of resource…