Background: Federal nutrition education initiatives ("MyPlate") intend to facilitate healthful eating behaviors in families; however, little is known about how minoritized students and caregivers perceive adherence to MyPlate guidelines or perceptions of importance of eating in alignment with guidelines. Purpose: Study aims included: 1)…

School lunch is a universal experience for students everywhere and yet remains largely understudied by educational researchers. This dissertation explores school lunch through the lens of adolescent identity theory, with the purpose of investigating the unarticulated and overlooked complexities inherent in the lunch block, from issues of the…

Background: Breakfast consumption often decreases as youth get older. The School Breakfast Program (SBP) provides an opportunity to intervene and increase breakfast consumption, especially among high school students. Methods: Project breakFAST implemented an expanded breakfast service at 12 high schools. In this longitudinal evaluation, school…

Background: Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are the largest source of added sugar in the US diet. In adolescents aged 12-19, these drinks account for 13% to 28% of total daily calories. Compared with other adolescents, those residing in Appalachia have the highest consumption rates of SSBs. Methods: Using a Teen Advisory Council (TAC), a…

Purpose: Easy access to fast-food restaurants in the immediate environment of a high school is such that a high proportion of students do not remain in school for lunch. Hence, the probability that they will eat a healthy meal is reduced. The aim of this study is to identify the behavioral determinants of "staying in school to eat lunch" among…

Objectives: This teaching idea enables students to (1) access and analyze fast food nutrition facts information (Calorie, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sugar, and sodium content); (2) decipher unhealthy and healthier food choices from fast food restaurant menus for better meal and diet planning to reduce obesity and minimize…

At present, school administrators do not have necessary information to create a school environment where teenage girls unhappy with their bodies can experience success at school. This research surrounds three research questions: (1) How do adolescent girls' definitions of their bodies relate to their perception of their high school's climate? (2)…

Currently, high school students account for 60% of food sold in cafeterias. School lunches should provide 33% of the students' energy intake, however, according to some research, it was found that it tends to only provide 19% because of the sale of "competitive" foods. Research by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that girls ages…