Updated Nutrition Standards for School Meals Associated With Improved Weight Outcomes for Boys in Elementary School

摘要

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND In response to the Healthy, Hunger‐Free Kids Act of 2010, the US Department Agriculture updated the nutrition standards for school meals to improve nutrition‐related health outcomes for children. This study assesses the association between implementation of the updated nutrition standards and child weight. METHODS A quasi‐experimental design and multivariate regression analysis is used to compare longitudinal changes in BMI z‐scores for school lunch participants and nonparticipants across 2 nationally representative third grade cohorts of children—those exposed to the updated standards (N?=?5480) and those not exposed (N?=?9240). RESULTS Boys who ate school lunches after implementation of the updated standards experienced slower BMI z‐score growth than did nonparticipants; participants' BMI z‐scores increased by 0.10 compared with 0.18 for nonparticipants. We find no relationship between school lunch participation and BMI z‐scores for girls. CONCLUSIONS This study provides evidence that the updated nutrition standards for school meals are associated with improved weight outcome for boys, but have no effect for girls, 1 year after implementation. These findings are encouraging and provide support for continued focus on improving the nutritional quality of school meals.