In November 1996, the American School Foodservice Association surveyed 600 school district food service directors to determine how meeting the new dietary guidelines for school lunch and breakfast programs would affect cost, student participation, and wasted food. Most directors felt that meal cost will rise and that including less popular foods…

"Kids Count in Colorado!" is an annual publication of the Colorado Children's Campaign, which provides the best available state- and county-level data to measure and track the education, health and general well-being of the state's children. "Kids Count in Colorado!" informs policy debates and community discussions, serving as…

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) contacted public school districts around the United States to determine if they offered low-fat, healthful meals. The PCRM ranked the schools according to whether they served low-fat and vegetarian meals daily, whether these meals varied through the week, and whether children needed to…

Noting that the School Breakfast Program provides breakfast to millions of low-income children who otherwise might go hungry in the morning and be less ready to learn, this report is the tenth from the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) to report how well the program is reaching children in need. Data were obtained from state reports to the…

The School Breakfast Program supplies federal funds to schools and residential child care institutions that provide breakfasts to children. This status report compares the performance of each state to the performance of other states and of the nation as a whole in school breakfast participation. The first section examines overall outcomes, taking…

Noting that many children in the United States are not well nourished despite the recent economic boom, the state of Maryland began the Maryland Meals for Achievement (MMFA) program, a demonstration project to see if providing a classroom breakfast free to all students can improve student nutrition and academic achievement. This interim report…

In 1995 the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) developed the Health School Menus Initiative (HSMI) to ensure that school age children are provided meals that are consistent with dietary guidelines and current nutrition information. The USDA developed review instruments to evaluate the implementation of the HSMI nationwide. These…

This article reviews research from published studies on the association between nutrition among school-aged children and their performance in school and on tests of cognitive functioning. Each reviewed article is accompanied by a brief description of its research methodology and outcomes. Articles are separated into 4 categories: food…

At the request of the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, this investigation identified state and local school food authorities' (SFA) management and operating practices recognized as best practice by the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) or other officials. In addition, the study determined whether some of these practices could be…

This study compared two types of school breakfast programs in Minnesota: Fast Break to Learning, a universal free breakfast program ("Fastbreak" schools), and programs with a sliding fee scale ("control" schools). Fastbreak and control schools were compared on several variables: (1) survey responses from principals and food…

The School Breakfast Program provides breakfast to millions of children from low-income families who otherwise might go hungry in the morning and be less ready to learn. This report is the eleventh from the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) to examine the program, its benefits, and the performance of the nation and of each state in reaching…

The School Breakfast Program provides breakfast to millions of children from low-income families who otherwise might go hungry in the morning and be less ready to learn. This report is the thirteenth from the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) to examine the program, its benefits, and the performance of the nation and of each state in reaching…

Twenty outbreaks of foodborne illness in schools were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during 1997; however, only 8 cases were associated with food served in the school meal programs. Preliminary findings identified nine outbreaks in 1998, affecting an estimated 1,609 individuals. CDC notes that such outbreaks are…

Due to shrinking financial resources accompanied by increased nutritional responsibilities, school food service professionals are employing economies of scale (central kitchens, cooperative purchasing, computerization, and high-tech food preparation equipment) and revenue-expansion opportunities (catering, vending machines, and "a la…

Two studies examined nutritional differences between home breakfasts and breakfasts served at preschool following School Breakfast Program guidelines and evaluated nutritional impact of program participation on 4-year olds' preacademic performance. Results indicated that breakfast intake was altered under school breakfast conditions. Performance…