Background of the School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study.

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP) are federally sponsored nutrition programs operating daily in the nation's schools. The School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study had three primary objectives: 1) to describe the nutrient composition of NSLP lunches and SBP breakfasts as offered to students, 2) to analyze the dietary intakes of students, and 3) to compare the dietary intakes of program participants with nonparticipants. This paper describes the school nutrition programs, discusses current program issues and policy concerns, and provides an overview of the study objectives and papers included in this journal issue.

School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study: overview of the study design.

The School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study collected information from a nationally representative sample of schools and a nationally representative sample of students attending these schools. A total of 545 schools provided information about all meals served during a 1-wk period between February and May 1992, as well as information about school food service operations. Approximately 3350 students in grades 1-12 provided detailed information about the foods and beverages that they consumed during a 24-hr period that included a school day. To assess the content of both the school meals offered to students and the meals consumed by students, the study used dietary standards from three sources: the recommended dietary allowances, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and recommendations of the National Research Council.

Meals offered in the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program.

This paper presents findings from the School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study on the meals offered to students under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP). On average, NSLP lunches provide the program goal of at least one-third of the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for most nutrients. The average amounts of total fat and saturated fat as a percentage of food energy in NSLP lunches, however, exceed the Dietary Guidelines' goals. The amount of sodium exceeds National Research Council (NRC) recommendations, but the amount of cholesterol is within the recommended range. With the exception of food energy, SBP breakfasts on average provide the program goal of at least one-fourth of the RDA. They are close to the Dietary Guidelines' goal for total fat, but exceed it for saturated fat. SBP breakfasts provide amounts of cholesterol that exceed the recommendations.

Factors affecting the fat content of National School Lunch Program lunches.

An analysis of a week's menus from a nationally representative sample of 515 National School Lunch Program schools found that < 5% of schools offer lunches that provide a 5-d average close to the Dietary Guidelines recommendation for fat. This paper examines the factors associated with schools offering meals that, on average, provided different amounts of fat: low (< 32% of food energy from fat), moderate (32-35% fat), high (35-40% fat), and very high (> 40% fat). Schools in which NSLP lunches come close, on average, to meeting the Dietary Guidelines' goal for total fat follow several menu-planning, food-purchasing, and food-preparation practices to reduce the fat content of the school lunches.

Dietary intakes of students.

This paper relies on 24-h dietary recall data from a nationally representative sample of approximately 3350 students to analyze the dietary intakes of students. Most US students eat at least five times during the day, and nearly all eat at least three times per day. The average daily intake of vitamins and minerals at least meets the recommended dietary allowances (RDAs). Overall, students consume more food energy on average than recommended, suggesting that some may be at risk of consuming more food energy than is optimal. Students also consume more protein, total fat, saturated fat, and sodium than is recommended for good health. National School Lunch Program (NSLP) participants' mean intakes of most nutrients at lunch meet the program goal of at least one-third of the RDA. NSLP participants, however, consume more fat, saturated fat, and sodium than is recommended. School Breakfast Program (SBP) participants' mean intakes of most nutrients at breakfast also exceed the program goal of one-fourth of the RDA. However, their breakfast intakes of saturated fat as a percentage of food energy, cholesterol, and sodium exceed dietary recommendations.

Dietary effects of the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program.

In this paper we use 24-h dietary recall data to assess the dietary effects of participation in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP). After adjustment for differences in characteristics between NSLP participants and nonparticipants, NSLP participation is associated with higher lunch intakes of vitamin A, calcium, and magnesium, and a lower intake of vitamin C. Although mean intakes of other key dietary components such as food energy, iron, cholesterol, and sodium are higher for NSLP participants than for nonparticipants, these differences appear to be due to underlying differences in unobserved characteristics (eg, food preferences, appetites, or food energy needs) rather than to the NSLP. Both at lunch and over 24 h, NSLP participation is associated with consumption of a higher percentage of food energy from fat and saturated fat. SBP participation is associated with higher breakfast intakes of food energy, calcium, riboflavin, phosphorus, and magnesium, and with a higher percentage of breakfast food energy from fat and saturated fat, and a lower percentage of food energy from carbohydrate.

The School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study: summary and discussion.

This paper summarizes the key findings of the School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study and discusses the implications for policy and practice in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP). Reducing total fat offered in NSLP lunches to the amount set in the Dietary Guidelines, as called for in the proposed regulations published by the US Department of Agriculture in June 1994, would be facilitated by changing the legislative requirement to serve whole milk. In addition, the following menu choices and meal preparation methods would reduce considerably the amounts of fat in NSLP lunches: reducing the average meat serving from 2 to 1.5 oz; eliminating high-fat meats, high-fat cheese, nuts, and nut butters; eliminating high-fat desserts and milk-based desserts; and reducing sharply the use of added fats in food preparation.