A review of school food service research
1993
Lytle, L.A. | Kelder, S.H. | Snyder, M.P.
The purpose of this article is to describe and summarize the research conducted to date on school food service nutrition interventions. With the provision of 27 million lunches and 3 million breakfasts daily, school food service can have a significant impact on achieving national goals to reduce fat and sodium in children's diets. A literature review identified eight articles published since 1980 that included some outcome-based evaluation. Most of the research focused on attempts to reduce the total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, or sodium in foods served in school cafeterias. Most studies showed a trend toward being able to reduce fat and sodium without incurring resistance from students or prohibitive cost increases; however, the degree of reduction achieved often failed to meet study goals. Results from the majority of the studies are circumspect due to the lack of scientific rigor in the research design or measures used. We conclude that future studies must employ more rigorous study designs and should focus on how to make changes to meet national nutritional goals, how to keep calories adequate while reducing fat levels, and how the vitamin and mineral composition of meals is influenced by the changes.
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