According to research, adequate nutrition is essential for a child's well-being and development. However, an estimated 1.54 million U.S. students cannot afford the meals offered at school. Studies show that students from low-income households who rely on free school meals for breakfast and lunch have a significantly healthier diet than those who…

Background: We gathered baseline data about student need of healthy, free school food, and if current school meal programming serves students in need of healthy free school food, in anticipation of the completion of a district-wide kitchen infrastructure and educational farm project in a high-poverty urban school district. Methods: We used mixed…

Food assistance programs--including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps), the National School Lunch Program, and the School Breakfast Program--have been remarkably successful at their core mission: reducing food insecurity among low-income children. Moreover, writes Craig Gundersen, SNAP in particular has also been…

Using 2005 data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Third School Nutrition Dietary Assessment survey, this study examines the contribution of school meals to the food and nutrient intake of children in food-secure, marginally secure, and food-insecure households. The study finds that children from food-insecure and marginally secure…

Objective: To compare nutrient intake and indicators of nutritional status of western Kenyan pupil participants and nonparticipants of a parent-supported school lunch program. Design: Pupils and their caregivers were interviewed to assess their 24-hour dietary intake and the socioeconomic status of the family. Pupils' weights and heights were…

Estimates were made of the effects of school lunch participation and various socioeconomic, anthropometric, and psychological variables on the consumption of 20 food items by 8- to 12-year-old children. The study sample consisted of 845 school children in the State of Washington, stratified by ethnic group and by poverty level so that it contained…