Parent perceptions of school meals and how perceptions differ by race and ethnicity

Monica D Zuercher; Juliana F W Cohen; Punam Ohri-Vachaspati; Christina A Hecht; Kenneth Hecht; Michele Polacsek; Deborah A Olarte; Margaret Read; Anisha I Patel; Marlene B Schwartz; Leah E Chapman; Dania Orta-Aleman; Lorrene D Ritchie; Wendi Gosliner

doi:10.1093/haschl/qxad092

Parent perceptions of school meals and how perceptions differ by race and ethnicity

Health Aff Sch. 2024 Jan 10;2(1):qxad092. doi: 10.1093/haschl/qxad092. eCollection 2024 Jan.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Nutrition Policy Institute, University of California, Oakland, CA 94607, United States.
² Department of Public Health and Nutrition, Center for Health Inclusion, Research, and Practice (CHIRP), Merrimack College, North Andover, MA 01845, United States.
³ Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
⁴ College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85004, United States.
⁵ Center for Excellence in Public Health, University of New England, Portland, ME 04103, United States.
⁶ Share Our Strength, Washington, DC 20005, United States.
⁷ Stanford Pediatrics, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 94304, United States.
⁸ Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health & Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Connecticut, Hartford, CT 06013, United States.

Abstract

Parental perceptions of school meals can affect student participation and overall support for school meal policies. Little is known about parental school meal perceptions under universal free school meals (UFSM) policies. We assessed California parents' perceptions of school meals during the COVID-19 emergency response with federally funded UFSM and whether perceptions differed by race/ethnicity. Among 1110 California parents of K-12 students, most reported school meals benefit their families, saving them money (81.6%), time (79.2%), and stress (75.0%). Few reported that their child would be embarrassed to eat school meals (11.7%), but more parents of White students than Hispanic students reported this. Many parents reported that their child likes to eat lunch to be with friends (64.7%); about half felt their child has enough time to eat (54.2%). Fewer parents perceived school lunches to be of good quality (36.9%), tasty (39.6%), or healthy (44.0%). Parents of Hispanic and Asian students had less favorable perceptions of school meal quality, taste, and healthfulness than parents of White students. Parents report that school meals benefit their families, but policy efforts are needed to ensure schools have the resources needed to address cultural appropriateness. Schools should address parental perceptions of meals to optimize participation, nutrition security, and health.

Keywords: NSLP; SBP; UFSM; parental perceptions; school meals.