The primary research question to be answered from this study was: to what degree have school districts in the County of San Bernardino been able to respond to federal legislation mandating the design and implementation of local school wellness policies. A major finding was that the majority of districts have not yet implemented nutrition and wellness policies.

Nutritional problems of var ious population groups throughout the world are constantly being emphasized, It has been pointed out that life expectancy at birth is only thirty to forty years for over half of the world's population , while for those people who have been able to take advantage of modern medical and nutritional science, it is sixty five to seventy years, Hunger, as well as preventing economic advancement, promotes unrest and political upheavals. The United States, in the interest of preserving its own security and way of life has a vital stake in solving world nutritional problems as well as its own. Without doubt, we are all aware of this need today of improving the nutritional needs of our own people in practically all parts of the United States. However, the nutritional needs have to be defined before improvements can be recommended. More exact and reliable criteria are needed for identifying borderline cases of malnutrition for various groups of people. This problem is gradually being solved through correlated medical, biochemical, and dietary studies. Thus, as one of the criteria on which to rely, dietary studies are one of the means of measuring the nutritional adequacy of the diet. An evaluation of the school lunch by means of a dietary study cannot be made without also considering the other foods eaten during the day. The benefit of a good school lunch to health and dietary habits, therefore, may be greatest for those children whose family food supplies and habits are the poorest. The benefit will be greatest in the extent to which the foods provided in the school lunch supplement those supplied in the home. A study of the dietary habits of school children in terms of the nutritive value of the school lunch and the rest of the day's food would help to evaluate the nutritional status for the group studied and measure the effectiveness of the school lunch program for improving the dietary habits of the children. Since the school lunch and its contribution tot the total day's diet had not been studied in Utah, seven-day dietary records of the 8th grade Logan Junior High and 8th and 9th grades Wellsville Junior High students were used in evaluating the nutrient intake of the children. The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of each meal ( breakfast , noon meal , and evening meal) to the total day's diet with emphasis on children eating school lunch versus the children not eating school lunch . The between-meal foods were also studied to see to what extent this supplementary intake improves the overall adequacy of the adolescent's diet .

Healthy eating and food away from home expenditures are gaining increasing notoriety within the U.S. These issues are not only a concern for businesses, but governmental policy makers have also shown interest in both increasing nutrition for children and better understanding the behaviors of those consuming food away from home. For this reason, a large amount of research has been devoted to better evaluating the effects of various governmental programs on nutrition, with an equal amount of work detailing which groups are eating away from home. The methodologies employed by past research have varied, as have the results and inferences that have been drawn. For this reason, we incorporated new methodologies, consistent with theory, in order to explain the effects of an important governmental program, National School Lunch Program, on childhood nutrition. We further established consumer profiles and the effects of transactional variables, previous away from home behavior, and decision structure on food away from home expenditures. In regards to the National School Lunch Program we found that meal nutritional quality is not higher for program participants, however, overall intake for most vitamins, minerals, and other dietary components is higher compared to non-participants that attend a school which participates in the program. The reason for increased intake is due to the increased consumption of food for participants, not due to food quality. Furthermore, comparing children that participate in the program to those attending schools that do not participate indicates that both quality and quantity are insignificantly different. Examination of blood levels and healthy eating measures indicates few differences among the treatment groups. Evaluating the effect of transactional variables and previous purchase behavior on food away from home expenditures by meal occasion indicates both play a significant role. Transactional variables consist of factors that are directly related to a meal, e.g. facility type, means of ordering, and age structure of meal participants. The effect of transactional variables is highly dependent on the variable being considered. Previous purchase behavior displays expected results with regards to past participation effects, however, past expenditure effects tended to increase spending on future meals with results being somewhat consistent across large meals. Transactional variables were also evaluated to determine their effect on food away from home expenditures by facility type. A new decision structure chronology was also implemented. Past research has focused on modeling the decision process as either a two or three-step process. The two-step structure is usually defined as the "participation at facility type" and "expenditure level" decisions, whereas the three-step structure is defined by the "participation," "facility type," and "expenditure level" decisions. We, however, propose a change to the three-step decision structure which we believe more adequately defines the decision chronology. We, therefore, model the three-step decision structure in the following order: "participation," "expenditure level," and "facility type." Results showed that both the new decision structure and transactional variables are important to the expenditure amounts and who is eating away from home at each facility type.

Current national dietary policy recommends that half, or three, of the six daily servings of grain foods be consumed as whole grains. However, most American children prefer to consume enriched, refined over whole grains. One way of increasing the consumption of whole grain foods to children is through school meals. Why children and adolescents prefer enriched, refined grains over whole grain foods is thought to be due to product color and texture, but no literature exists that quantifies this, especially within the context of the National School Lunch Program. Information and research is therefore needed to examine and address this issue. Since each school district's child nutrition department determines whether whole grain foods are offered in their schools, we conducted a roundtable discussion with Texas school dietitians to understand their experiences with providing whole grains. A phenomenological analysis of this discussion's transcript exposed how Texas school dietitians balance serving nutritious meals in their cafeterias, while maintaining customer acceptance of the foods. Whether or not students consume whole grains determines if these foods are served again. Input from participants determined which whole grain were foods tested in this study: hamburger buns, sandwich bread, tortillas and spaghetti. Focus groups were conducted with 137 elementary, middle and high school students in our targeted school district. Transcripts of these focus groups revealed the vocabulary students use to characterize their perceptions of whole grain foods tested. Using this vocabulary, consumer acceptance ballots were then developed and tested. Consumer acceptance testing of whole grain foods was conducted during scheduled lunch periods in three different schools. The main objective of this study was to determine at what percent do whole grains contained in grain foods served in school meals become unacceptable to students. Our study determined that a 51% whole grain food product was acceptable to students and a 100% whole grain product was not. Color, taste and texture of a whole grain food can influence its acceptance by these students, but that acceptance is dependent on the percent whole grain content of the food and whether it is made with white or red whole wheat flour.

Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-73).

The National School Lunch Program, established in 1946 under the National School Lunch Act, has grown from a commodity surplus distribution program in its early days, to its current incarnation as a nutrition program for lower income students. This paper addresses the following question, “are particular framing choices influenced by a representatives’ district or individual characteristics, or are party considerations more important in determining framing language?” Certain frameworks may be more effective for creating policy change, and given that framing shapes the way humans conceptualize a problem space, framing should be a deliberate tool used in order to constrain the debate around certain problems. In support of this claim, existing framing literature and literature on human cognition indicates that framing plays a vital role in defining the terms of debate and mobilizing the public around certain issues. However, the actual details of debate shifts and issue framing often become a ‘black box’ in theories of policy change. Content analysis of floor statements made over a 16-year period regarding the National School Lunch Program reveals that policy framing is highly dependent on district characteristics, but that language use itself does not appear to have changed significantly in the time period studied. / text

This study examines the social actors and issues involved in constructing and contesting the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), in order to identify whose interests are involved in shaping an institution which transmits dietary habits and food knowledge to the nation’s children through the mid day meal. For the historical analysis, I collected data from historical accounts of the NSLP, congressional hearings, laws, and newspaper articles. For the contemporary analysis, I interviewed 15 actors representing organizations key to federal NLSP policy making. To frame my analysis, I utilize a model of power, based on the work of Arts and Van Tatenhove (2004), and the work of Burstein (1991), who describes issue creation and movement in policy domains. The key findings of this study are that actors with the most financial resources (e.g. the food industry) do not automatically achieve their interests in the policy making process. In fact, at key times of contestation, economically powerful actors form alliances and adjust their agenda in reaction to the use of other forms of power by economically weaker actors. This information can help economically weaker actors (e.g. the farm to school movement) understand how to increase their influence in the policy domain.

Thesis (M.S.)--Northwest Missouri State University, 2009. / The full text of the thesis is included in the pdf file. Title from title screen of full text.pdf file (viewed on July 17, 2009) Includes bibliographical references.

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on Feb 15, 2010) The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Dissertation advisor: Dr. Ruth Ann Roberts Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Northern Kentucky University, 2009. / Made available through ProQuest. Publication number: AAT 1462676. ProQuest document ID: 1703377531. Includes bibliographical references (p. 36-45)