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…

Purpose/Objectives: Schools are offering more fruits and vegetables; yet consumption of fruits and vegetables among adolescents remains low. Many schools are implementing Farm-to-School programs to help generate excitement and increase selection of fruits and vegetables by students. The purpose of this research was to determine if a simple tasting…

Providing flavored milk in school lunches is controversial, with conflicting evidence on its impact on nutritional intake versus added sugar consumption and excess weight gain. Nonindustry-sponsored studies using individual-level analyses are needed. Therefore, we conducted this mixed-methods study of flavored milk removal at a rural primary…

Purpose: Pupils' perspective should be better taken into account when developing nutrition education at school. The purpose of this paper is to explore Nordic children's perspectives on the healthiness of meals in the context of school lunches. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 78 focus group discussions were conducted with 10-11-year-old…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine Finnish ninth grade pupils' (15-16 years) perspectives on hot school lunches and consider the potential of these perspectives as a resource for food and health education. Design/methodology/approach: Data include observations, essays, and visually elicitated focus group discussions from a larger…

Background: The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) directed the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to revise school meal standards to increase healthy food offerings. A critical stakeholder in the implementation of standards is Food Service Directors (FSDs). We sought to examine FSDs' perspectives on revised school meal standards to…

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate behaviors related to fruit and vegetable intake before and after implementation of a theory-based Farm to School pilot intervention in a rural school. Methods: Students in fifth grade at a rural elementary school were asked to complete pre- and post-test measures based on the Theory of…

Purpose: This study assessed student perceptions of school meals under the new federal meal patterns for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Student feedback is instrumental in developing strategies to increase and maintain NSLP participation, satisfaction, and ultimately provide students with a healthy meal. Methods: Anonymous…

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine: (1) What foods high school students participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) are discarding the most? (2) How much of these foods they are discarding? and (3) What are their perceptions towards school lunch? Methods: Researchers measured plate waste at two high…

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of the Offer versus Serve (OVS) provision in the National School Lunch Program would result in a significant difference in fruit and vegetable consumption by fourth and fifth grade elementary students, and in plate waste cost. Methods: Weighed and visual plate waste data…

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this project was to develop and validate a survey that will enable school nutrition (SN) directors and managers to identify and address issues affecting the non-participation of high school students in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Methods: The research was conducted in two phases. Qualitative data…

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of the study was to assess the food group preferences of second through fifth grade children based on ethnic background, gender, and grade. Food group preferences were determined by the amount of various food groups consumed in meals served as part of the National School Lunch Program at selected schools. Research…

Purpose/Objectives: The National School Lunch Program is well situated to address the vulnerability of lower income children at increased risk for both under and overnutrition. Evidence suggests, however, that a significant amount of food served in the program goes uneaten. One way to monitor this problem is through children's self-reported plate…

Co-hosted by the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science, and Technology (NCSSSMST) and The Keystone Center, the third annual Keystone Center Youth Policy Summit focused on Adolescent and Childhood Nutrition in America's K-12 Schools. In June 2006, 40 students from 10 math and science schools came together in…