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State Farm‐to‐School Laws Influence the Availability of Fruits and Vegetables in School Lunches at US Public Elementary Schools
Author(s) -
Nicholson Lisa,
Turner Lindsey,
Schneider Linda,
Chriqui Jamie,
Chaloupka Frank
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of school health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.851
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1746-1561
pISSN - 0022-4391
DOI - 10.1111/josh.12151
Subject(s) - legislation , state (computer science) , law , environmental health , logistic regression , demographics , mediation , demography , psychology , medicine , political science , sociology , mathematics , algorithm
BACKGROUND State laws and farm‐to‐school programs ( FTSPs ) have the potential to increase fruit and vegetable ( FV ) availability in school meals. This study examined whether FV were more available in public elementary school lunches in states with a law requiring/encouraging FTSPs or with a locally grown‐related law, and whether the relationship between state laws and FV availability could be explained by schools opting for FTSPs . METHODS A pooled, cross‐sectional analysis linked a nationally representative sample of public elementary schools with state laws. A series of multivariate logistic regressions, controlling for school‐level demographics were performed according to mediation analysis procedures for dichotomous outcomes. RESULTS Roughly 50% of schools reported FV availability in school lunches on most days of the week. Schools with the highest FV availability (70.6%) were in states with laws and schools with FTSPs . State laws requiring/encouraging FTSPs were significantly associated with increased FV availability in schools and a significant percentage (13%) of this relationship was mediated by schools having FTSPs . CONCLUSIONS Because state farm‐to‐school laws are associated with significantly higher FV availability in schools—through FTSPs , as well as independently—enacting more state legislation may facilitate increased FTSP participation by schools and increased FV availability in school meals.