| Project: Children’s Food Security and Intakes from School Meals |
| Award Year: 2008 |
| Amount of award, fiscal 2008: $200,406.00 |
| Institution: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. |
| Principal Investigator: Anne Gordon |
| Status: Completed |
| Detailed Objective: This study will examine the reliance of children from food-insecure households on USDA school meals programs to meet their nutrition needs compared with children from food-secure households. In so doing, the study will provide information on the extent to which the USDA National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs act as a safety net to children in food-insecure households.
The study will use cross-sectional data from USDA's School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study-III (SNDA-III), a nationally representative study of dietary intakes of students attending American public schools that participate in USDA's National School Lunch Program. Using multiple regression techniques, the project will compare children from food-insecure and food-secure households in terms of: (1) the proportion of nutrients and food energy (calories) obtained from school meals, (2) the likelihood of consuming key food groups, such as milk, fruit, vegetables, and meats from school meals, and number of MyPyramid food group servings from school meals, (3) the extent to which school meals expand the variety of foods the children consume, and (4) portion size of school menu items consumed and amounts wasted. |
| Topic: Child Nutrition, Dietary Intake and Quality, Food Security, School Lunch and Breakfast |
Output:
Potamites, E. and Anne Gordon. Children’s Food Security and Intakes from School Meals: Final Report, Contractor and Cooperator Report No. 61, USDA, ERS, May 2010. |