Nutrition Topics

• Childhood Obesity
• Federal Food and Nutrition Programs
• Assessing Dietary
  Quality
• Sharing Expertise
• Clients

School Food Purchase Study III

Evaluating the type, quantity, and value of foods acquired by school districts participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) is essential to identifying purchasing practices that could provide cost savings to school districts. Purchasing and acquiring a mix of foods with the right nutritional values while maintaining appropriate expenditures can help school districts meet NSLP and SBP program requirements to ensure that children have access to nutritious meals.

Mathematica is working with Promar International and Ender York, Inc., on the congressionally mandated School Food Purchase Study III (SFPS-III). This evaluation is collecting food purchase and donated commodity records and surveying the food procurement practices of participating school districts during the 2009-2010 school year. In addition to generating national estimates of food availability and costs, the information is also being used to link food acquisition data to a USDA nutrient database and to conduct subsequent nutritional analysis of food acquired for the NSLP and SBP. Mathematica is developing the food and nutrient database and analyzing the data.

The nutritional analysis component has three objectives:

• Generate national estimates of nutrient and food availability for foods acquired by school districts for school meals and a la carte sales
• Describe how well the mix of foods acquired in school year 2009-2010 conforms with Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 and the MyPyramid Food Guidance System
• Describe the nutritional quality of foods acquired by selected subgroups of school districts

The data are being used to:

• Establish a baseline for tracking and monitoring the nutritional quality of foods acquired for school meals and a la carte sales in U.S. public schools
• Determine the role of commodity foods in helping school districts to provide NSLP and SBP meals that meet current nutrition standards
• Assess the need for changes in school nutrition policy, research priorities, or technical guidance to improve food purchasing practices for districts and schools