Evaluation of the offer vs. serve option within self-serve, choice menu lunch program at the elementary school level.
The feasibility of a centralized menu and the effectiveness of an "offer vs. serve" option within a self-serve, choice menu lunch program at the elementary school level were determined. Student trays (no. = 370/day) were visually evaluated for foods chosen and consumed. The same 1-week menu was served at two urban Southern schools. One represented a high-poverty-area, all-black-student school and the other represented a middle-income-area school with a white to black student ratio of 3:1. Students were able to choose the required USDA minimal number of three foods, and 66% of the foods selected were similar at the two schools, demonstrating that a centralized menu was feasible. Three-fourths of the students were able to choose more than 75% of one-third of the RDA for all nutrients except pyridoxine and ascorbic acid at both schools and iron at the high-poverty school. Twenty-five percent or more of the students did not consume 75% of one-third the Recommended Dietary Allowance for thiamin, vitamin B-6, ascorbic acid, iron, and magnesium at either school or of niacin and vitamin A at the middle-income school. Overall plate waste was 12.9%, with younger children wasting more food than older children and more waste in the middle-income than the high-poverty school. In general, the "offer vs. serve" was an effective option.
Dillon
M S
MS
Department of Nutrition and Foods, Auburn University, Alabama 36849-3501.
Lane
H W
HW
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences; D005522:Food Services; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D011203:Poverty; D012574:Schools; D012737:Sex Factors