Focus Area: School & After School

Perspectives on Messaging Strategies to Increase Participation in Universal Free School Meal Programs: A Qualitative Study With Parents of Elementary School-Aged Children

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At least eight U.S. states currently offer universal free school meal programs, providing meals at no cost to all students regardless of household income. While marketing campaigns may help increase student participation, limited research has examined what message content and design most effectively motivate parents to encourage school meal use. This qualitative study explored parents’ More

Impact of Deimplementing Universal Free School Meals: School Food Authority Perspectives

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This study examined the impact of deimplementing universal free school meal (UFSM) policies compared with continuing UFSM at the state level. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in spring 2023 with 941 school food authorities (SFAs) across eight U.S. states, assessing outcomes such as meal participation, foodservice revenues, staffing needs, administrative burdens, stigma, and student meal More

Ultra-Processed Foods in School Meals: Challenges and Opportunities

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Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are ubiquitous in the U.S. food supply, while growing evidence shows that UPFs harm children’s health. Schools offer a promising setting to introduce UPF regulation and reduce the availability of UPFs. This brief explores the issue of UPFs in school meals and identifies opportunities and challenges to replace UPFs with more fresh More

Building a National Research Agenda

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The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) commitment to child obesity ends in December 2025, marking the conclusion of a two-decade investment in Healthy Eating Research (HER). As part of our RWJF legacy, HER is developing a national research agenda for policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) interventions and strategies to promote food and nutrition security, optimal More

Universal Free School Meal Policies and Participation in the US National School Meal Programs

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This study aimed to examine the impact of federal- and state-level Universal Free School Meal (UFSM) policies and related policies on National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) participation rates during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This comparative effectiveness research study used a natural experiment created by the COVID-19 pandemic to analyze More

Current State of Processed Foods in Schools

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School meals play an important role in supporting children’s nutrition. Despite substantial improvements in the nutritional quality of school meals following the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, concerns remain regarding the level of processing of the foods served in schools. This may be due to growing evidence of potential adverse outcomes associated with ultra-processed foods, More

Examining implementation of universal free school meals in Colorado and the effects on students at highest risk for food and nutrition insecurity

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Universal free school meals (UFSMs) can reduce disparities in food and nutrition security by addressing barriers to accessing nutritious food. Eight states have passed permanent UFSMs policies and others are underway; however, existing research mainly considers the effects of UFSMs without examining their implementation. This study aims to: 1) Describe how UFSMs have been implemented More