Penn State researchers have identified three previously unreported factors that foil the efforts of high school students to make healthy food choices - early lunch, school income from soft drink incentives, and parents who bring fast food to the cafeteria for their kids.
Dr. Claudia Probart, associate professor of nutritional sciences who led the study, says, "This new information may be useful to school wellness councils as they work toward developing wellness policies as mandated by the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 as well as structuring school environments to promote more healthful food choices by students."
The study is detailed in the current (February) issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association in a paper, Factors Associated With The Offering and Sale of Competitive Foods and School Lunch Participation. The authors are Probart; Elaine McDonnell, project coordinator; Dr. Terryl Hartman, associate professor of nutritional sciences; J. Elaine Weirich, project coordinator; and Lisa Bailey-Davis, director of operations, Pennsylvania Advocates for Nutrition and Activity, Penn State Harrisburg.
The Penn State researchers sent surveys to school foodservice directors at half (271) of the public high schools in Pennsylvania and received 84 percent participation. The schools were representative of the entire population of high schools in Pennsylvania based on region, rate of free and reduced-price lunch participants, enrollment and percent rural.
Twenty-five percent of the foodservice directors reported that lunch periods are scheduled before 10:30 a.m. and the researchers found that an early lunch start predicted higher a la carte sales. A la Carte foods are those sold in addition to the federally-regulated meal program. These foods are primarily unregulated and may be of lower nutritional value.
They write, "Students who have early lunch periods may purchase a la carte items to eat later in the day when they are likely to become hungry because they have eaten an early lunch. This seems to be a new finding and suggests that timing issues may be important considerations in encouraging the purchase of more nutritious food options."
The study found that a la carte sales generate almost $700 per day per school among the schools surveyed and $450 of that income comes from the sale of a la carte items that have few federal requirements compared to the school meals.