Revised Federal School Meal Guidelines: Impact on Student Food Intake and Costs

描述（由申请人提供）：修订后的联邦学校膳食指南：对学生食物摄入量和成本的影响学校膳食对儿童的饮食有重要影响，应满足儿童的营养需求，同时培养健康的饮食习惯，使他们能够保持能量平衡。最近的国家数据显示，学生在学校消费的支持健康饮食模式的食物（全谷物，水果和蔬菜，而不是土豆）摄入量低，但营养低，能量密集的食物摄入量高。美国农业部对学校膳食中的卡路里和特定营养素有最低标准，但这些标准最近一次更新是在1995年。2009年美国农业部委托医学研究所（IOM）的报告提供了新的建议，包括膳食计划的新膳食模式要求，使其与美国膳食指南保持一致，以确保膳食促进健康，减少摄入不足和过量。该报告首次建议了每餐的最低和最高卡路里量，以及更多的全谷物，水果和蔬菜，这可能会增加膳食成本。2010年白宫儿童肥胖报告工作组敦促美国农业部采纳国际移民组织的建议，增加膳食补偿，以支持这些新膳食模式要求中更健康食品的成本。国际移民组织的报告中有两项建议呼吁进行研究，以更好地了解新的膳食要求将如何改变儿童的学校膳食摄入量和食品服务成本。这些都是重要的问题，需要得到答案，以便为政策和未来的技术和教育援助需求提供信息。因此，R01补助金申请的总体目标是在整个学年内在6所学校（3所低收入和3所中等收入）的大型郊区学区实施IOM新的学校膳食模式要求。具体目标是评估新膳食模式要求对以下方面的影响：1）膳食参与率，2）学校餐饮服务成本（食品、劳动力、总膳食），3）学生在校饮食摄入量。我们假设，与对照学校相比，干预学校的学生在学校会选择和消费更健康的饮食（更多的水果，蔬菜和全谷物）。我们还假设早餐和午餐食品成本的增长将低于报告中的预测。与创建所需的学校膳食相关的成本的结果将是非常重要的，因为这些数据没有在以前的研究中系统地收集，我们将使用电子学校餐饮服务软件系统来完成这项任务。这项重要的研究将为健康的学校食品环境对学生饮食的影响提供政策信息，并提供有关成本的关键信息，这是采用和实施的主要障碍。 公共卫生相关性：该应用程序将实施新的IOM膳食模式要求，即在学区推广全谷物、水果和蔬菜。这项研究的结果将确定学生饮食行为的变化发生在学校作为一个新的膳食模式的结果，确定对膳食成本的财务影响，并告知政策。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Revised Federal School Meal Guidelines: Impact on Student Food Intake and Costs School meals are an important influence on children's diets and should meet children's nutrient needs while fostering healthy eating habits that enable them to maintain energy balance. Recent national data revealed that students consumed low intakes of foods that support healthy dietary patterns (whole grains, fruit and vegetables other than potatoes), but high intakes of low nutrient, energy dense foods at school. The USDA has minimum standards for calories and specific nutrients in school meals, but these were last updated in 1995. The 2009 USDA-commissioned Institute of Medicine (IOM) report provided new recommendations that include new meal pattern requirements for the meals programs, aligning them with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines to ensure that the meals promote health and reduce inadequate and excessive intakes. The report recommended a minimum and maximum amount of calories/meal for the first time, and more whole grains, fruit, and vegetables, which will likely increase meal costs. The 2010 White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity Report urged the USDA to adopt these IOM recommendations and increase meal reimbursements to support the costs for the healthier foods in these new meal pattern requirements. Two of the IOM report recommendations call for research to better understand how the new meal requirements would change children's school meal dietary intakes and food service costs. These are important questions, and answers are needed to inform policy and future technical and educational assistance needs. Thus, the overall objective of this R01 grant application is to implement the IOM new meal pattern requirements for school meals in a large suburban school district in 6 schools (3 low and 3 middle income) for an entire school year. The specific aims are to assess the impact of the new meal pattern requirements on 1) meal participation rates, 2) school food service costs (food, labor, total meal), and 3) student dietary intake at school. We hypothesize that, compared with control schools; intervention school students will select and consume healthier diets (more fruit, vegetables and whole grains) at school. We also hypothesize that the increase in breakfast and lunch food costs will be less than that projected in the report. The results on the costs associated with creating the desired school meals will be very important as these data have not been systematically collected in previous studies, and we will use an electronic school foodservice software system for this task. This significant study will inform policy on the influence of a healthy school food environment on student diet, as well as provide critical information on costs, the major barrier to adoption and implementation. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This application will implement the new IOM meal pattern requirements for school meals promoting whole grain, fruit and vegetables in a school district. Outcomes from this study will identify what changes in student dietary behaviors occur at school as a result of the new meal patterns, identify the financial impact on the meal cost, and inform policy.