What Do Parents Think About School Meals? An Exploratory Study of Rural Middle School Parents’ Perceptions

Cristian L. Meier, Patrick Brady, Natoshia Askelson, Grace Ryan, Patti Delger, Carrie Scheidel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Interventions targeting school meals have been used to combat obesity in rural youth. Parents play a powerful role in childhood nutrition; however, we know little about parents’ perceptions of school meal programs. This study aimed to understand parents’ perceptions of school meal programs. Surveys were administered to middle school parents (n = 576) at six schools in a rural state. We conducted univariate and multivariate analyses to measure parents’ overall perceptions of the school meals program and to identify differences in perceptions by their children’s participation in the Free and Reduced Price School Meals (F&RM) program. Parents had largely negative views of school meals but agreed that they met students’ needs. Results of the multivariate analysis revealed differences in perceptions by participation in F&RM including the relative importance of meal components. Including parents in meal-related experiences and decision making could improve their perceptions and increase children’s participation in school lunch programs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)226-232
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of School Nursing
Volume38
Issue number3
DOIs
StateAccepted/In press - 2020
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article: This study was funded by Food and Nutrition Service (Grant No. CFDA 10.574).

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.

Keywords

  • food service staff
  • middle school
  • national school lunch program
  • nutrition
  • school nurse

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