Comparison of Cost and Selected Nutrients of the National School Hot Lunch, a La Carte, and Combination of School Lunch/a La Carte Menus

Abstract

The a la carte program increases participation at school sites; however, questions about the nutritional quality and cost remain. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to compare the nutrient intakes of high school students who ate meals from hot lunch (HL) (n=32), a la carte (AC) (n=88), or a combination of hot lunch/a la carte (HLA) (n=42) as well as to examine the cost. One hundred students, ages 14 to 18, at Anoka-Hennepin School District, Minneapolis, MN participated in the study on a voluntary basis. Over four consecutive days, immediately following their lunch breaks, subjects completed questionnaires about the types and number of food items purchased. School lunch recipes and nutrition labels of convenience foods were analyzed using Personal Chef and Diet Analyst Data were analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey's Multiple Comparison Test The average cost for students who ate HLA ($2.51) was significantly higher than for those who purchased AC (S2.21) or HL ($1.75). The mean recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for calories from HL (22%) was significantly less compared to AC (30%) and HLA (33%). AC had significantly less of the RDA for protein (36%) than did HL and HLA, 53% and 61%, respectively. Similarly, the RDA for vitamin A was significantly lower for AC (21%) than HL (51%) and HLA (52%). The RDA for calcium and iron were also significantly lower for AC (27%, 21%) than for HL (44%, 28%) and HLA (48%, 36%), respectively. HLA had significantly higher of the RDA for vitamin C (66%) and the recommended intake of sodium as defined as 2400mg (58%) than HL (32% and 47%) or AC (43% and 44%), respectively. The RDA for fat was significantly lower for HL (30%) compared to AC (39%) and HLA (42%). In summary, HLA was significantly higher in vitamin C and sodium than AC and HL. Compared to HL, the AC selections had a lower percentage of the RDA for calcium, iron, vitamin A, and protein, and the AC/HLA were significantly higher in the RDA for calories and fat Since the results of this study show that 80% of meals (130 out of 162) included an item from the AC line, nutrition education is essential to improve the food selections of students.