The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 allows school districts to provide free meals to all students if over 40 percent of them are directly certified as free-meal eligible. While emerging evidence documents positive effects on student behavior and academics, critics worry that CEP has unintended…

Participation in the federally subsidized school breakfast program often falls well below its lunchtime counterpart. To increase take-up, many districts have implemented Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC), offering breakfast directly to students at the start of the school day. Beyond increasing participation, advocates claim BIC improves academic…

Background: Food-insecure (FIS) adolescents struggle in school and with health and mental health more often than food-secure (FS) adolescents. Rural communities experience important disparities in health, but little is known about rural FIS adolescents. This study aims to describe select characteristics of rural adolescents by food-security…

Background. Family homes are a key setting for developing lifelong eating and physical activity habits, yet little is known about how family home nutrition and physical activity (FNPA) environments influence food insecurity (FI) and childhood obesity, particularly in rural settings. Aims. This study examined associations among FNPA, FI, and body…

Objectives: To examine the association between frequency of breakfast consumption and body mass index (BMI) among elementary students participating in a traditional School Breakfast Program (SBP) in a school district that is implementing a Farm to School (F2S) program compared to those participating in a traditional SBP without F2S. Methods: This…

Background: The HEALTHY primary prevention trial developed an integrated multicomponent intervention program to moderate risk factors for type 2 diabetes in middle schools. The nutrition component aimed to improve the quality of foods and beverages served to students. Changes in the School Breakfast Program (SBP), National School Lunch Program…

Given the recent rise in childhood obesity, the School Breakfast Program (SBP) and National School Lunch Program (NSLP) have received renewed attention. Using panel data on more than 13,500 primary school students, we assess the relationship between SBP and NSLP participation and (relatively) long-run measures of child weight. After documenting a…

We used data from the School Nutrition Dietary Assessment III Study to examine the dietary patterns of school meal program participants and nonparticipants and the relationship between school meal participation and children's BMI and risk of overweight or obesity. School Breakfast Program (SBP) participants consumed more low nutrient energy dense…

"Kids Count in Colorado!" is an annual publication of the Colorado Children's Campaign, which provides the best available state- and county-level data to measure and track the education, health and general well-being of the state's children. "Kids Count in Colorado!" informs policy debates and community discussions, serving as…

Currently, high school students account for 60% of food sold in cafeterias. School lunches should provide 33% of the students' energy intake, however, according to some research, it was found that it tends to only provide 19% because of the sale of "competitive" foods. Research by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that girls ages…