Tatiana Andreyeva, Xiaohan Sun
Universal School Meals in the US: What Can We Learn from the Community Eligibility Provision?
Nutrients
us department agriculture usda recently made substantial changes school meal standards media public outcry suggested led substantially food waste school meal selection consumption waste assessed implementation new school meal standards plate waste data collected four schools urban lowincome school district logistic regression mixedmodel anova used estimate differences selection consumption school meals fall 2011 implementation fall 2012 new standards among 1030 elementary middle school children analyses conducted 2013 new standards implemented fruit selection increased 230 entre vegetable selection remained unchanged additionally postimplementation entre consumption increased 156 vegetable consumption increased 162 fruit consumption remained milk selection consumption decreased owing unrelated milk policy change although food waste levels substantial pre postimplementation new guidelines positively affected school meal selection consumption despite increased vegetable portion size requirement consumption increased led significantly cups vegetables consumed significantly students selected fruit whereas overall percentage fruit consumed remained resulting students consuming fruits contrary media reports results suggest new school meal standards improved students overall diet quality legislation weaken standards warranted