District Wellness Policy Nutrition Standards Are Associated with Healthier District Food Procurement Practices in the United States.

Elizabeth Piekarz-Porter,Lindsey Turner,Julien Leider,Jamie F Chriqui

doi:10.3390/nu12113417

Abstract

Food procurement policies often exist to require that schools purchase foods with specific nutrient standards. Such policies are increasingly being used with the hope of improving access to healthier foods and beverages. Local wellness policies, required in any school district that participates in Federal Child Nutrition Programs, often contain specific nutrition standards that detail what can be sold to students during the school day. This study investigated the extent to which nutrition standards in wellness policies may be associated with healthier nutrition standards in district-level purchasing specifications. Cross-sectional data from the 2014–2015 school year for 490 school food authorities from 46 states and the District of Columbia were collected as part of the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study and the National Wellness Policy Study. Survey-adjusted multivariable logistic regression models were computed to examine the association between district wellness policy nutrition standards and corresponding district food purchasing specifications. Results show that having a district wellness policy with corresponding nutrition standards and being in a rural area were associated with district food purchasing specifications for specific nutrients. These findings contribute to the literature to suggest that having a wellness policy with detailed nutrition standards may help to increase access to healthier foods and beverages.

Highlights

Under rules to participate in United States Child Nutrition Programs, local education agencies (LEAs; referred to as school districts) are required to have local wellness policies that include nutrition standards for school meals and other foods sold that meet federal rules [1,2,3]
This study finds that districts were more likely to have procurement policies on saturated fats and sugars when the wellness policy at least suggested or encouraged limits on the same nutrients
There is a constant struggle to ensure that children have access to healthy foods and beverages during the school day

Summary

Introduction

Under rules to participate in United States Child Nutrition Programs, local education agencies (LEAs; referred to as school districts) are required to have local wellness policies that include nutrition standards for school meals and other foods sold that meet federal rules [1,2,3]. Such nutrition standards aim to provide healthier options to students during the school day, in an effort to combat consistently high rates of childhood overweight and obesity in the United States [4]. Even in school districts in which state law dictates strong nutrition standards and the SFA is striving to meet federal requirements, the SFA itself has to navigate how to find and purchase the Nutrients 2020, 12, 3417; doi:10.3390/nu12113417 www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients

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Conclusion