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School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study (SNMCS)

[Note: This study includes the School Nutrition Dietary Assessment-5 (SNDA-5)]

Sections

  • Study Specifics
  • Project Timeline
  • Abstract
  • Research Design & Aims
  • Logic Models
  • Data Collection Approach
  • Resources

Study Specifics

Lead/funding agency:

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Co-funders:

N/A

Scientific partners:

N/A

Contract/grant number:

AG-3198-C-13-0001

Link to FOA (Funding Opportunity Announcement):

https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=e6d6b0029bf94a8089342d0a7d710ccc&tab=core&_cview=1

Project website:
Last updated:

June 2015

Project Timeline

Contract award date:

February 2013

Projected completion:

February 2017

Data collection window:

September 2014-June 2015 (main data collection); November 2015-February 2016 (cost follow-up data only)

Abstract

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 required the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish new nutrition standards for the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. The new standards are substantially different from the previous ones and bring the requirements into alignment with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The changes to the food and nutrition standards are designed to support the broader public health goals, including preventing obesity and ensuring adequate nutrient intakes. The School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study (SNMCS) will generate a nationally representative data set on 502 school food authorities (SFA), 1,200 schools, 2,400 students, and a large sample of school meals (5,404 lunches and 3,360 breakfasts) for school year 2014-2015 (SY2014-2015). The data collection includes the administration of several different types of instruments and modes, including self-administered web-based SFA director and school principal surveys, a food service manager survey, an electronic menu survey, competitive foods checklists, cafeteria environment observation, plate waste observation, Automated Multiple Pass Method (AMPM) 24-hour dietary recalls, measurement of a student’s height and weight, student/parent surveys, meal cost interviews, and collection of administrative cost data. Implementation of the SNMCS at this historic juncture will provide the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) with crucial information about the nutritional quality and cost of school meals after implementation of the new regulations. The resulting data will allow USDA to describe the characteristics of school environments, policies, and practices; the levels of students’ participation, satisfaction, and their dietary intake; plate waste; and the relationship between these variables and the nutritional quality and cost of school meals. Comparisons of SNMCS findings with the findings from relatively recent prior national studies will provide information on the effects of the new regulations on food service operations, nutrition quality of meals, meal costs, and student dietary intakes. By integrating the data collections previously conducted in the School Nutrition Dietary Assessment (SNDA) series and the School Lunch and Breakfast Meal Cost series, SNMCS will allow for the first national assessment of the relationship between school meal cost, nutrition quality, participation in the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program and plate waste. The study will produce five separate reports summarizing study findings (SFA/school characteristics and food service operations; nutrition quality of meals; meal cost; student participation, dietary intake and other outcomes; and plate waste) and a stand-alone summary of findings.

Research Design & Aims

Research design:

Nationally representative cross-sectional, integrated study, including comparisons of study findings with findings of previous similar nationally representative studies

Sites/target populations:

The School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study will consist of a total of 502 school food authorities (SFAs), 1,200 schools, and 2,400 students across the continental United States and the District of Columbia.

  • 502 SFAs – An SFA is defined as a catchment area (usually a school district) that is responsible for administering and operating school meal programs at the local level.
  • 1,200 Schools – Three schools per SFA from the 400 Group 2 and Group 3 SFAs, with one school each from elementary-, middle-, and high school per SFA (1,200 schools overall, or 400 each of elementary-, middle-, and high school).
  • 2,400 Students/parents – Students in grades K-12 attending schools participating in the National School Lunch and/or School Breakfast Programs and their parents.  24 students/parents per SFA (eight students per school) in the Group 2 sample of 100 SFAs and 300 schools.
Aims:

The SNMCS has seven specific objectives:

  1. To describe SFA and school environments, food service operations, and school/student participation in school meal programs.
  2. To determine food and nutrient content of school meals and snacks and examine compliance of SFAs and schools with new meal standards.
  3. To determine the cost to produce school meals and to compare costs with revenues and reimbursements.
  4. To describe and assess student characteristics, school meal participation, customer satisfaction, dietary intake, and BMI.
  5. To describe and assess plate waste.
  6. To examine interrelations among these domains, particularly nutrition quality of meals, meal cost, and student participation.
  7. To assess the effects of the new program regulations on these domains by examining how they have changed since implementation of new regulations.
Intervention description if applicable:

N/A

Logic Models

SNMCS

Data Collection Approach

Data collection:

The data collection includes the administration of several different types of instruments and modes during School Year 2014-2015, including self-administered web-based SFA director and school principal surveys, a food service manager (FSM) survey, an electronic menu survey, competitive foods checklists, cafeteria environment observation, plate waste observation, Automated Multiple Pass Method 24-hour dietary recalls, measurement of a student’s height and weight, student/parent surveys, meal cost interviews, and collection of administrative cost data.

The sample (and data collection) will be allocated across three groups of SFAs each providing some but not all study data elements.

  • Group 1 consists of nationally representative sample of 106 SFAs that will complete the SFA-director survey only. This survey will provide information on institutional structure and policies, community context, and student characteristics.
  • Group 2 consists of a nationally representative sample of 100 SFAs, 300 schools within those sampled SFAs, and 2,400 students within those sampled schools. This sample will complete SFA director-, FSM-, and principal surveys, and a menu survey. At these SFAs and schools, data will be collected using competitive foods checklists and cafeteria environment observation. Students will be administered a survey including a 24-hour dietary recall (a 25% sub-sample of students will be administered a second 24-hour recall), and they will have their heights and weights measured. Parents will be administered a parent survey to provide information on household characteristics and perceptions of meal quality and services.
  • Group 3 consists of a nationally representative sample of 300 SFAs and 900 schools with those sample SFAs. This sample will complete SFA director-, FSM-, and principal surveys, and an expanded menu survey. The SFA director, FSM-, and principal will also be administered cost/revenue interviews and asked to complete cost/revenue forms. A nationally representative sample of school lunches (5,404) and breakfasts (3,360) will be selected from a sub-sample of 168 schools from 56 Group 3 SFAs in which study field staff will observe plate waste.

All three groups will provide information to describe SFA and school environments, food service operations, and school/student participation in the school meal programs (Study Objective 1). SFAs and schools from Group 2 and Group 3 will provide information to assess food and nutrition quality of meals offered and served (Study Objective 2). Group 3 SFAs and schools will provide information to determine cost of meals and meal cost/revenue ratios and plate waste (Study Objectives 3 and 5). Group 2 SFAs, schools and students/parents will provide information to assess student participation, satisfaction, and dietary intake and related outcomes (Study Objective 4). These combinations of groups will support comparisons of SNMCS findings with those of other national school meal program studies to assess effects of the new regulations. All three groups will support integrative analyses of interrelationships among domains, including that of nutrition quality of meals, meal costs, and student participation.

Resources

Questionnaires/surveys:

All questionnaires are available on the Office of Management and Budget Reginfo.gov at http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAICList?ref_nbr=201404-0584-003

They include:

  • SFA-director survey (web-based)
  • Food service manager survey (web-based)
  • Principal survey (web-based)
  • Menu survey (web-based)
  • Expanded menu survey (web-based)
  • Competitive foods checklists
  • Cafeteria environment observation form
  • SFA-, FSM-, and principal cost surveys and forms
  • Student survey
  • Student 24-hour dietary intake (AMPM)
  • Parent survey
Publication information:

N/A