Impact of the new U.S. Department of Agriculture school meal standards on food selection, consumption, and waste.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently made substantial changes to the school meal standards. The media and public outcry have suggested that this has led to substantially more food waste.

Purpose

School meal selection, consumption, and waste were assessed before and after implementation of the new school meal standards.

Methods

Plate waste data were collected in four schools in an urban, low-income school district. Logistic regression and mixed-model ANOVA were used to estimate the differences in selection and consumption of school meals before (fall 2011) and after implementation (fall 2012) of the new standards among 1030 elementary and middle school children. Analyses were conducted in 2013.

Results

After the new standards were impleme

SUBMITTER: Cohen JF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3994463 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature