School Food Environments and Policies in U.S. Public Schools.

This article uses data from the third School Nutrition Dietary Assessment study, conducted by Mathematica for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), to examine three areas of school food environments: policies and practices, availability of foods and beverages that are not a part of reimbursable USDA meals, and nutritional content of USDA school lunches in 395 schools in 38 states. Researchers found that the overall food environment becomes significantly less healthy as students progress from elementary to high school. High schools were more likely to have vending machines, school store or snack bars, fundraising activities involving sweet or salty snacks, and contracts with beverage companies. In addition, 93 percent of high schools and 92 percent of middle schools sold food and beverages a la carte, and nearly 80 percent of these secondary schools offered unhealthy a la carte options. Schools with a higher percentage of children from low-income families were significantly less likely to offer fruits or raw vegetables each day.