Adelle Pushparatnam, Diego Armando Luna Bazaldua, Alaka Holla, João Pedro Azevedo, Marguerite Clarke, Amanda Devercelli
Measuring Early Childhood Development Among 4-6 Year Olds: The Identification of Psychometrically Robust Items Across Diverse Contexts
Frontiers in public health
response covid19 pandemic united states congress authorized united states department agriculture waive variety school meal regulations funded school meals daily students charge regardless family income since federal universal free school meals ufsm ended 20212022 school year several states including california maine adopted statelevel ufsm policies study aimed understand parent perceptions school meals federal new state ufsm policies california maine including potential challenges benefits students households mixed methods study design used quantitative crosssectional survey administered semistructured interviews conducted english spanish 20212022 school year quantitative survey administered parents students elementary middle high schools rural suburban urban communities california n1110 maine n80 qualitative interviews conducted subset parents california n46 maine n20 using zoomtm survey participants 708 1190 595 interviewees 40 66 606 parents students eligible free reducedprice meals frpm parents perceptions ufsm school meal quality experiences applying frpm examined tests proportions used analyze survey data using grounded theory interview transcripts analyzed qualitatively 2 trained research assistants applying principles content analysis identify themes domains interrater reliability conducted parents perceived school meals ufsm saved families money time parents fewer meals purchase prepare children additionally ufsm reduced parents stress reduced stigma children parents described feelings embarrassment previously filled paperwork frpm parent perceptions school meal quality healthfulness mixed parents reported feeling grateful school meals parents mixed opinions quality healthfulness school meals believed ufsm saved money time reduced stress parents also felt ufsm reduced stigma families