title: Perceived reactions of elementary school students to changes in school lunches after implementation of the United States Department of Agriculture's new meals standards: minimal backlash, but rural and socioeconomic disparities exist.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Updated standards for meals sold through the USDA's National School Lunch Program took effect at the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year. The current study assessed the perceptions of school staff regarding student reactions to these changes in school lunches and how perceptions varied across schools.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mailback surveys were gathered from administrators and food service staff at a nationally representative sample of 557 US public elementary schools in the second half of the 2012-2013 school year.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Half of the respondents (56.4%) agreed that students complained about the meals at first, but 70% agreed that students like the new lunches. Perceived student complaints were significantly higher among respondents from rural schools (n=184) than from urban (n=127) or suburban (n=171) schools. Respondents at rural schools also were more likely to report that they perceived that fewer students were purchasing the meals and that students were consuming less of the meals than during the previous year. Perceived student complaints were higher at schools not offering regular (i.e., higher-fat) pizza. Respondents at socioeconomically disadvantaged schools (>66% of students eligible for free/reduced-priced meals) perceived that more students were buying lunch and that students were eating more of the meal than in the previous year.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Perceptions of school personnel suggest reasonable acceptance of school lunches subsequent to revisions. Given the importance of offering healthful foods at school, the revised USDA meals standards are a promising strategy to improve the diets of children.
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago , Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Lindsey
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Frank J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Chaloupka
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology; D005522:Food Services; D006293:Health Promotion; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D062409:Lunch / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008612:Menu Planning; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012574:Schools; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D016885:United States Department of Agriculture; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data