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The Impact of Neighborhood Food Environment on School Meal Participation Rates
Author(s) -
Vaudrin Nicole,
OhriVachaspati Punam,
Green Jessie,
Lorts Cori,
Yedidia Michael
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.129.2
Subject(s) - school meal , overweight , meal , environmental health , psychological intervention , cafeteria , obesity , childhood obesity , purchasing , business , medicine , geography , marketing , nursing , pathology
Childhood overweight and obesity is a major public health concern. Schools have been targeted for obesity prevention interventions aimed at improving access and availability of healthier food options, with help from the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010, which strengthened the nutritional standards for meals served at schools. Several studies have assessed the food environment within and around schools for influence on weight and diet quality with mixed results. The objective of the current study is to examine the association between the neighborhood food environment around schools on school meal participation as a percentage of eligibility. We hypothesize that unhealthy food environments around schools are associated with lower rates of school meal participation, as students may be purchasing cheaper, less nutritious food items before or after school in lieu of meals served as part of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP). School level free and reduced‐price meal eligibility and participation rates for 122 Middle and High schools in 4 low‐income, urban New Jersey cities for SY2012–2013 were obtained from the National Center for Education Statistics common core data and from the New Jersey Department of Agriculture using Open Public Records Act request. Food outlets around schools were classified using a protocol developed by a NIH‐funded study. Distance of each school to different types of food outlets will be calculated using geocoded school and food outlet addresses. Included in analysis are 856 convenience stores, 1,448 fast food restaurants, 75 supermarkets, and 46 small grocery stores. Nearly 95% of schools had eligibility rates of at least 50% for free and reduced‐price meals. In terms of race and ethnicity, students enrolled in participating schools were majority Hispanic (48%) and African American (46%). SBP participation rates in the four school districts range from 33% to 63%, and for NSLP from 67% to 81%. Based on analysis from 2009 data, a vast majority of students had easy access (within ¼ mile) to convenience stores (79%) and fast food restaurants (73%) and less access to healthier outlets including small grocery stores (30%) and supermarkets (15%). Results from multivariate analysis examining the association between NSLP and SBP participation and food environment around schools for SY 2012–13, adjusting for school demographics and availability of competitive foods will be presented. A few pioneering cities across the country have enacted zoning laws that set a minimum distance between food outlets offering less healthy items and schools. The current research can be used to further inform the potential effectiveness of such policy decisions.