The Importance of Improving the Nutritional Quality of Packed Lunches in U.S. Schools

Dietary factors associated with childhood obesity include consuming sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and maintaining a high energy and fat, low fiber diet. SSB consumption has increased across youth of all ages…

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Successes and Challenges in Using Group-Level Incentives to Increase Children’s Aggregate Fruit and Vegetable Consumption for Lunch in One Wisconsin Elementary School

American children eat fewer fruits and vegetables than the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommended guidelines suggest they should (National Cancer Institute, 2014; Eaton et al., 2012; Kimmons, Gillespie,…

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Satisfaction of Middle School Lunch Program Participants and Non- Participants with the School Lunch Experience

Diets of middle school children continue to fall short of the U. S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, particularly for fruit and vegetable intake (Krebs-Smith, Guenther, Subar, Kirkpatrick, & Dodd, 2010;…

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Recognition of JCNM Reviewers 2015

The hallmark of a research journal is that manuscripts are peer reviewed. This peer review process helps to ensure that manuscripts are relevant, timely, and of high quality and that…

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Opportunities in the Classroom or Cafeteria for a “Tasting Challenge” to Influence First Grade Students’ Willingness to Try New Foods

The National School Lunch Program, which serves approximately 62% of students annually, strives to improve the nutritional intake of students (U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA], 2012). The school environment is…

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Middle School Student Perceptions of School Lunch Following Revised Federal School Meal Guidelines

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) has a major influence on the diet quality of American school children. Most American children attend school 180 days per year for six or…

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Middle School Cafeteria Food Choice and Waste Prior to Implementation of Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act Changes in the National School Lunch Program

The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) updated the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) initiating a discussion of food choice and waste in school cafeterias (U.S. Congress, 2010; Pratt-Heavner,…

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Identifying Associations Between Format and Placement of School Salad Bars and Fruit and Vegetable Selection

Approximately 34.7% of all 6 to 19 year old school aged children in the United States are overweight or obese by conventional standards (Ogden, Carrol, Curtin, Lamb, & Flegal, 2010),…

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Institute of Child Nutrition Research Summary

Mary Frances Nettles, PhD, RD Director of Applied Research Division Institute of Child Nutrition (formerly, National Food Service Management Institute) Mary.Nettles@usm.edu This research has been produced by the Institute of…

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Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Dietary Patterns of Preadolescents Attending Schools in the Midwest

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 recommend that children and adolescents consume more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and low-fat dairy products (U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA] & U.S.…

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