The federal government spends about $10 billion each year to provide meals to over 30 million students through the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs. However, a 2007 study estimated that of this amount, $860 million (8.6 percent) in school year 2005-2006 was paid improperly because of errors in the number of meals counted and claimed…

Children eagerly anticipate summertime--it gives them a break from the school year routine and can be filled with fun and games. Parents want their children to be safe, to learn new skills and explore their interests. Employed parents want all of these things for their kids, along with childcare that will allow them to work free from worries about…

Background: The international prevalence of childhood obesity and obesity-related diseases has received increasing attention. Applying data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we explore relationships between childhood obesity and school type, National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) eligibility,…

In light of the recent rise in childhood obesity, the School Breakfast Program (SBP) and National School Lunch Program (NSLP) have received renewed attention. Using panel data on over 13,500 primary school students, we assess the relationship between SBP and NSLP participation and (relatively) long-run measures of child weight. After documenting a…

Public education is like riding a roller-coaster, except that in education the thrill tends to come on the way up, when the economy is flying high, and funding is flush and the future feels as bracing as the wind rushing past. However, this is not one of those times. The economy seems to be almost in free fall. Optimism plummets with each…

For 20 years, Advocates for Children of New Jersey has published the Newark Kids Count Data Book, a one-stop source for child well-being data on our state's largest city. Newark Kids Count includes the latest statistics, along with five-year trend data, in the following areas: demographics, family economic security, food insecurity, child health,…

Objectives: To outline the prevalence and disparities of breakfast consumption among school-aged urban minority youth, causal pathways through which skipping breakfast adversely affects academic achievement, and proven or promising approaches for schools to increase breakfast consumption. Methods: Literature review. Results: On any given day a…

Over the past few years, several food recalls, such as for beef and peanut products, have affected schools. It is especially important that recalls affecting schools be carried out efficiently and effectively because young children have a higher risk of complications from food-borne illnesses. GAO was asked to determine how federal agencies (1)…

"Kids' Share 2012: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children through 2011," a sixth annual report, looks comprehensively at trends over the past 50 years in federal spending and tax expenditures on children. Key findings suggest that the size and composition of expenditures on children have changed considerably, but children have not…

This study determined attitudes of kindergarten through fifth grade teachers about school nutrition environments, their perceived influence on school nutrition environments, and self-reported classroom behaviors. Specific objectives were to: (a) identify perceived factors that influence the school nutrition environment, according to teachers…

This article provides practical guidance for researchers who are designing studies that randomize groups to measure the impacts of educational interventions. The article (a) provides new empirical information about the values of parameters that influence the precision of impact estimates (intraclass correlations and R[superscript 2] values) and…

The Team Nutrition (TN) e-Newsletter is published periodically to share TN resources developed by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and/or by State agencies, and to share ideas for promoting healthy eating and physical activity through Team Nutrition at the State and local levels. This February 2009 issue includes: (1) State Developed…

Food and eating in schools have most often been thought of as utilitarian parts of the day, as distractions, and, for education researchers, as lacking incentives to study or even as objects of derision rather than serious concern. Yet there are good reasons why scholars of education should consider food and food practices. These include the…

In fiscal year 2008, about 31 million children participated in the National School Lunch Program and more than 10 million children participated in the School Breakfast Program each school day. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) spent $11.7 billion on the school meal programs in that year. The majority of…

Purpose/Objectives: The Reauthorization Act of 2004 requires schools participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs to establish a wellness policy. The purpose of this study was to examine school foodservice directors' attitudes about the potential benefits of the wellness policy. Methods: A survey research design was…