Obesity influences many adolescents, and a potential setting that can help with this health concern is schools. Schools can help raise awareness of adolescent obesity and promote healthier eating habits among adolescents. Therefore, researchers must determine if school food programs influence high school adolescents' behavior regarding the…

As roughly 7.3 million students in rural school districts head back to school this fall, they remain largely unaware that the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) is due to expire on September 30, 2024 (Hartman et al., 2023). Enacted on December 20, 2018, and temporarily renewed in September 2023, this critical piece of legislation…

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, the paper draws on conceptions of culinary capital and socialisation to explore children's experiences of mealtime in one academy school. In this paper, the author argues how 'healthy eating' interventions have led to the neglect of the social significance of dining together. The paper highlights how children's…

The purpose of the study was to explore the challenges experienced by teachers in their role in implementing the National School Nutrition Program in schools within the Harry Gwala District of KwaZulu-Natal. This article is extracted from a Ph.D. thesis that employed a qualitative research design, utilizing a sample of teachers who participate in…

This paper presents ethnographic work conducted to investigate how notions of culinary capital have the potential to shape the everyday experiences of children during mealtime in school. Children's early experiences with mealtimes and food are critical determinants for eating behaviour over the life course. The paper presents an account of…

Objective: Previous research indicates that head teachers in Sweden frequently fail to see school lunch as part of the educational activities of a school. This study contributes to an understanding of how head teachers in Sweden perceive and experience current national policy intentions related to school lunch. Design: Qualitative inquiry.…

Colorado's Healthy School Meals for All (HSMA) program provides free breakfast and lunch to all students, regardless of economic background, and aims to strengthen farm-to-school systems and school food service workers' pay. After unexpected increases in student participation, the program faced a significant budget shortfall that raised warning…

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federal program that provides free and reduced priced lunch to millions of low-income children in urban schools. Empirical research shows mixed results on the physical and nutritional health of urban students participating in the program. However, a considerable limitation of this literature is that it…

Aim: This study aims to evaluate the impact of a novel multicomponent nutrition education program (United for Healthier Kids; U4HK) on the diet consumed during school lunch among preschool children. Methods: The program comprised four tools: hero plates, hero content, hero menus, and hero books and stickers. The program was implemented for 16…

Objective: To identify signs of food insecurity (FI) and coping strategies among university students from three minority groups. Participants: Participants consisted of 3155 university students: 25.58% first-generation, 16.86% nonwhite, and 4.63% international. Methods: Students answered a questionnaire composed of the 2-item Hunger Vital Sign for…

Background: The National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs reduce food insecurity and improve dietary intake. During the COVID-19 pandemic, school meals were provided to all children at no cost, regardless of income. This policy is known as Healthy School Meals For All (HSMFA). The purpose of the study was to examine the feasibility of a…

Background: Despite the establishment of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) in 2010, child nutrition programs continue to experience challenges impacting participation. Prior qualitative studies have explored how to reduce barriers to implementation of these programs in schools, but few studies have examined attitudes held by students, who…

Background: Despite the establishment of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) in 2010, child nutrition programs continue to experience challenges impacting participation. Prior qualitative studies have explored how to reduce barriers to implementation of these programs in schools, but few studies have examined attitudes held by students, who…