Alternative poverty measures have been proposed in response to the emerging insufficiencies of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) eligibility data. The analysis presented here involves seven poverty measures. Using outcome measures as a yardstick, we can assess how poverty measures explain these outcomes and note variations between…

Alternative poverty measures have been proposed in response to the emerging insufficiencies of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) eligibility data. The analysis presented here involves seven poverty measures. Using outcome measures as a yardstick, we can assess how poverty measures explain these outcomes and note variations between…

Rurality in education research is a function of the size of the school, the distance of a school in relation to urban areas, and factors within each school that may differentiate the school community based on geography. Distance matters. This study finds variation between rural communities at different distances from an urban center and…

According to a 2007 U.S. Census report, 43% of children in America younger than six are classified as low income (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007). The USDA (2008a, 2009a) indicated 17.1% of school-aged children are classified as overweight; an additional 15% are at risk of becoming overweight; and approximately 17.2 million children are living in…

Income volatility challenges the functioning of the safety net provided by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) food assistance programs for low-income families in time of need. Low-income families may be on a see-saw of income changes that make it difficult for program administrators to accurately target benefits and to define sensible…

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) serves more than 29 million children each day, but there is little information on the characteristics of those children. This study reports new estimates of NSLP participant characteristics using two national surveys: the 2001 Panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) and the 1999-2002…

In 2004, the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) served an average of 29 million lunches daily, at a Federal cost of $7.6 billion. Schools are reimbursed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) according to the number of each type of meal served. FNS administrative data do not include information on the…

In this document, the author traces the history of, explains the revisions to, and points up the political issues involved in the National School Lunch Act of 1964 and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966. The author cites research that establishes the adverse effect of malnutrition on the learning process, outlines basic concepts for nutrition…