Community Eligibility Provision and School Meal Participation among Student Subgroups

Abstract

BACKGROUND The National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs help to reduce food insecurity and improve nutrition. The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) enables high‐poverty schools to offer breakfast and lunch at no cost to all students. This study examines associations between CEP and participation among students eligible for free or reduced‐price meals (“FRPM”), possibly eligible (“near‐cutoff”), or ineligible (“full‐price”). METHODS Using data from the 2013‐2015 Healthy Communities Study, we compared school breakfast and lunch participation between 842 students in K‐8 at 80 CEP schools and 1463 students at 118 schools without CEP. Cross‐sectional difference‐in‐difference (DID) models compared meal participation among near‐cutoff and full‐price groups to that in the FRPM group. RESULTS Overall, FRPM students had high participation in school lunch and breakfast at both types of schools. In adjusted DID models, lunch participation among near‐cutoff students was 12 points higher in CEP versus comparison schools (p < .05). Among full‐price students, breakfast participation was 20 points higher and lunch participation 19 points higher in CEP than comparison schools (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS Community Eligibility Provision improves access to school breakfast and lunch in high‐poverty schools, particularly for students who are near or above the cutoff for FRPM eligibility.

Universal School Meals and Associations with Student Participation, Attendance, Academic Performance, Diet Quality, Food Security, and Body Mass Index: A Systematic Review

“…This literature review found that providing universal free school meals was consistently associated with significant increases in school meal participation. Although increases were generally observed among students previously eligible for free meals [39,48,52,57,61], the largest increases in participation were observed among students not previously eligible for free or reduced-price school meals [39,48,52,58,60,61]. This pattern likely reflects the fact that participation rates are usually lower among students who do not qualify for free or reduced-price school meals, thus providing a greater opportunity for an increase.…”

“…Turner and colleagues also examined the introduction of CEP, as well as the use of Provisions 1, 2, and 3 in public schools in California, and found that universal free school meals were associated with a 5.8 percentage point increase in NSLP participation and 3.5 percentage point increase in SBP participation [59]. Lastly, Tan et al used national data from K-8 schools to address this question and found that CEP was associated with an 11.7% higher likelihood of participating in the NSLP among near-cutoff students (i.e., students who were near the cutoff and had uncertain eligibility for free or reduced-price meals [p = 0.023]) and a 19% higher likelihood of participation among students previously eligible for full-price meals (p < 0.001) [60]. CEP was also associated with a 19.6% higher likelihood of participation in the SBP among students previously eligible for full-price meals in this study (p < 0.05).…”

Using Social Media to Promote School Nutrition Programs During the COVID‐19 Pandemic

“…Moving out of the pandemic, school officials should continue to provide information for families who are eligible for the NSLP and SBP. Schools can also use social media to raise awareness about the Community Eligibility Provision, which offers free breakfast and lunch to all students and is shown to increase participation in school nutrition programs 33 . Moreover, districts can use social media to advertise food security programs that supplement child nutrition programs, including WIC and SNAP.…”

“…Schools can also use social media to raise awareness about the Community Eligibility Provision, which offers free breakfast and lunch to all students and is shown to increase participation in school nutrition programs. 33 Moreover, districts can use social media to advertise food security programs that supplement child nutrition programs, including WIC and SNAP. Ensuring that families eligible for these programs are applying will in turn improve the health and welfare of students.…”

Nationally Representative Estimates of the Cost of Adequate Diets, Nutrient Level Drivers, and Policy Options for Households in Rural Malawi

“…Evidence from the present study could be useful to program administrators making decisions about whether to adopt CEP in their schools as well as to contribute to the growing body of impact evaluations regarding the program across the country. (4,(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22) Only five years into the nationwide implementation, studying the impacts of CEP is an active area of research to which this paper contributes. Evidence on the immediate and proximate impacts of CEP adoption have consistently been shown to be positive, but modest.…”