Comparison of Consumed Lunch Nutrient Profiles of 6th-Grade Students Before and After Implementation of the West Virginia School Nutrition Standards

This study compared the nutrient profiles from consumed school lunches of 6th-graders before and after the implementation of the West Virginia (WV) School Nutrition Standards. These standards required school lunches to meet the Dietary Guidelines for Americans for nutrients such as fat and sodium, and were more rigorous than the existing federal standards. The sample consisted of 173 6th-grade students in WV: 98 students before implementation of the standards (WV before cohort) and 75 students after implementation (WV after cohort). In order to control for changes in food products and consumer practices over time, nutrient profiles from a cohort of 70 6th-graders from Pennsylvania (PA), whose meals were not governed by such regulations, were collected at the same time as the WV after cohort. Consumed lunch data were collected as part of two 24-hour dietary recalls. The WV School Nutrition Standards were the benchmarks for all evaluations, since the purpose of this study was to ascertain whether nutrient consumption was altered when more healthful lunches were served. Results from the WV after cohort revealed lower mean values for total fat, saturated fat, and sodium. However, lower mean levels for calories, protein, thiamin, iron, and zinc also were observed in the WV after cohort, and among females, lower mean intakes for vitamin B6 and calcium. While the percent of students meeting fat, sodium, and cholesterol recommendations improved in the WV after cohort, there was no improvement for saturated fat. Less than 25% of students met the recommendations for calories, vitamin A, thiamin, vitamin B6, calcium, iron, and zinc, indicating that although the WV after cohort was served lunches in compliance with the standards, students were not consuming these offerings. These findings support the need for continued efforts toward assisting school foodservice managers with strategies to increase actual consumption of more healthful school meals. The hypothesis was that after implementation of the WV School Nutrition Standards (WVSNS), nutrient intake profiles would show a reduction of sodium, as well as total and saturated fat, and an increase in dietary fiber, with no change in vitamin or mineral content.