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Children rate the summer food service program.

Article Excerpt
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers a Summer Food Service Program that provides low-income children up to age 18 with nutritious meals and snacks when school is not in session (USDA, 2003). Meals are either prepared onsite or delivered by vendors to summer campsites, nonprofit organizations, and other agencies that offer summer programs for children. On an average weekday in the summer of 2002, over 3 million children were served (Food and Research Action Center, 2003). However, food waste and underutilization have been identified as issues in this program (Gordon et al., 2003). Although national studies have been conducted to identify the root causes, the researchers typically have questioned program administrators and parents. Based on a literature review, we found that no one has discussed with the children what could be done to improve their consumption of these meals and why they might not be participating.

Background

While most of the American population is food secure, hunger and food insecurity continue to be a problem for nearly 13 million U.S. children (Center on Hunger and Poverty, 2002). The latest Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness by the U.S. Conference of Mayors found a 17-percent increase in requests for emergency food assistance among families with children in 2002 (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2002). A recent survey

by America's Second Harvest indicated that of the 23.3 million people they served in 2001, 9 million were children (Kim, Ohls, & Cohen, 2001). In Delaware, 49 percent of the members of households served by the Food Bank of Delaware are children. Of those, 80 percent were food insecure and 32 percent had experienced hunger (Food Bank of Delaware, 2003). Six percent of the clients of the Food Bank of Delaware said their children have had to skip meals because there was no money to buy food.

One of the objectives of Healthy People 2010 is to increase food security among U.S. households and in doing so, reduce hunger (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000). The Summer Food Service Program helps to address the issue of child hunger. However, underutilization is an ongoing problem. During the 2002 school year, 15 million children received free and reduced-price lunches on an average school day, yet only 3 million of these children were reached by the Summer Food Service Program (Food Research and Action Center, 2003). Although Delaware ranks sixth nationwide in program use, only 29 percent of 40,000 eligible children participate.

A 2002 report to Congress by the USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) summarized a review of literature on plate waste in school nutrition programs and reported that almost 12 percent of calories from food served in the National School Lunch Program were uneaten (Buzby & Guthrie, 2002). This plate waste represents a direct economic loss of over $600 million and does not include the value of lost nutrition and health benefits. Plate waste figures for the ERS report were derived primarily from a large, national representative study conducted in 1991-92. A more recent national study of the Summer Food Service Program specifically indicated that children wasted about one-third of the calories and nutrients served, with only 11 percent of meals being consumed completely (Gordon et al., 2003). Thus, it is not surprising that program sponsors and administrators in Delaware have voiced concerns about plate waste and have endorsed further study to address the problem.

Student input has been suggested as a strategy to improve the quality, appearance, and acceptability of school meals (Buzby & Guthrie, 2002). While many schools have advisory committees that involve students, the effect of their efforts to reduce plate waste is unreported: No studies were found that reported children's input regarding the Summer Food Service Program. However, in the national Summer Food Service Program survey, site supervisors were asked to indicate their perceptions of children's food likes and dislikes (Gordon et al., 2003). They reported that pizza and ham sandwiches were the most liked meat/ meat alternatives. Other favorites were chicken nuggets or chicken strips, hamburgers, and cheeseburgers. Chocolate milk was preferred 14 to 1 by children, according to site supervisors. The most disliked items were bologna sandwiches, followed by tacos and other Mexican-style entrees, roast beef, and fish.

One of the goals of the Summer Food Service Program is to provide nutritious meals and snacks. To ensure this, the regulations specify a meal pattern but not specific nutrient requirements. To evaluate the nutritional composition of the meals for this study, we adapted the standards of the National School Lunch Program as...

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