Eating school meals associated with better diet quality among students

Students who eat meals at school after the implementation of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kid’s Act (HHFKA) are linked to having a better quality diet, a new study found.

The study looked at the dietary intake of 13,041 students before and after the implementation of (HHFKA) using data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) which is conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).  

Researchers analyzed the dietary quality of students’ meals eaten at school and those brought from home. They compared the meals using the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Healthy Eating Index (HEI) which scores meals using a 100-point scale. Meals earning a score of 100 are considered to be the healthiest. 

They found that HEI scores went up for all students after the implementation of HHFKA. In addition, students from low-income families who consumed a third of their calories from meals served at school saw an average HEI score increase of 4.66-points. This represents a 10.34% increase over at-home dietary HEI scores.

Passed in 2010, HHFKA introduced a series of nutrition requirements that schools who participated in the National School Lunch Program are required to follow. They include things like sodium restrictions and serving whole-grains.

This is the latest study to look at the impact HHFKA had on students’ nutrition. A study released last month by the USDA found that whole grain consumption among students significantly increased after the implementation of HHFKA. A separate USDA study also found that school meals became more nutritious after HHFKA.  

The USDA is gearing up to make further changes to the school nutrition requirements this month. Last year, it announced a proposed rule detailing what those changes could be.