TY - JOUR
T1 - Nutrient content of school meals before and after implementation of nutrition recommendations in five school districts across two U.S. counties
AU - Cummings, Patricia L.
AU - Welch, Sarah B.
AU - Mason, Maryann
AU - Burbage, Lindsey
AU - Kwon, Soyang
AU - Kuo, Tony
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the Board of Education, the Office of the Superintendent, and the Food Services Branch in the Los Angeles Unified School District, and the Cook County Department of Public Health as well as the four participating school districts for their support and contributions to this project. The authors would also like to thank Janice H. Vick and Kathleen Whitten from ICF International for their careful review of this manuscript prior to submission. The project was supported in part by cooperative agreements from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( Communities Putting Prevention to Work # 3U58DP002485-01S1 , # 1U58DP00263-01S1 , and Sodium Reduction in Communities Program # 1U58DP003061-01 ). The findings and conclusions in the article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or the official position(s) of the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the Cook County Department of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago or any other organization mentioned in the text. In accordance with U.S. law, no Federal funds provided by CDC were permitted to be used by community grantees for lobbying or to influence, directly or indirectly, specific pieces of pending or proposed legislation at the federal, state, or local levels. As it relates to the CDC-sponsored supplement, staff training and reviews by scientific writers were provided as technical assistance to the authors, through a contract with ICF International (Contract No. 200-2007-22643-003). CDC staff has reviewed the project's evaluation design and data collection methodology and the article for scientific accuracy. All authors have read and approved the final version.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2014/10/1
Y1 - 2014/10/1
N2 - Objective: To compare changes in nutrient levels of school meals before and after implementation of nutrition interventions at five school districts in two, large U.S. counties. School menu changes were compared against national school meal recommendations. Methods: A large urban school district in Los Angeles County (LAC), California and four school districts in suburban Cook County (SCC), Illinois implemented school meal nutrition interventions. Nutrition analyses were conducted for school breakfast and lunch before and after changes were made to the meal programs. Means, % change, and net calories (kilocalories or kcal) offered as a result of the nutrition interventions were calculated. Results: School districts in both counties made district-wide changes in their school breakfast and lunch menus. Menu changes resulted in a net reduction of calories, sugar, and sodium content offered in the meals. Net fewer calories offered as a result of the nutrition interventions were estimated to be about 64,075. kcal per student per year for LAC and 22,887. kcal per student per year for SCC. Conclusions: Nutrition interventions can have broad reach through changes in menu offerings to school-aged children and adolescents. However, further research is needed to examine how these changes affect student food selection and consumption. •School-based nutrition interventions were implemented in LA County and Cook County.•Reduced calories, sugar, and sodium content in school meals were achieved.•About 688,197 students were affected by the menu changes.
AB - Objective: To compare changes in nutrient levels of school meals before and after implementation of nutrition interventions at five school districts in two, large U.S. counties. School menu changes were compared against national school meal recommendations. Methods: A large urban school district in Los Angeles County (LAC), California and four school districts in suburban Cook County (SCC), Illinois implemented school meal nutrition interventions. Nutrition analyses were conducted for school breakfast and lunch before and after changes were made to the meal programs. Means, % change, and net calories (kilocalories or kcal) offered as a result of the nutrition interventions were calculated. Results: School districts in both counties made district-wide changes in their school breakfast and lunch menus. Menu changes resulted in a net reduction of calories, sugar, and sodium content offered in the meals. Net fewer calories offered as a result of the nutrition interventions were estimated to be about 64,075. kcal per student per year for LAC and 22,887. kcal per student per year for SCC. Conclusions: Nutrition interventions can have broad reach through changes in menu offerings to school-aged children and adolescents. However, further research is needed to examine how these changes affect student food selection and consumption. •School-based nutrition interventions were implemented in LA County and Cook County.•Reduced calories, sugar, and sodium content in school meals were achieved.•About 688,197 students were affected by the menu changes.
KW - Child nutrition
KW - Nutrition assessment
KW - Nutrition policy
KW - Obesity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84908238523&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84908238523&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ypmed.2014.03.004
DO - 10.1016/j.ypmed.2014.03.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 24631497
AN - SCOPUS:84908238523
SN - 0091-7435
VL - 67
SP - S21-S27
JO - Preventive Medicine
JF - Preventive Medicine
IS - S1
ER -
