USDA Summer Meals Programs: Meeting the Nutritional Needs of Children

Background Although research shows that children from households with low incomes have diet quality that is better during the school year vs the summer, very little research exists around the nutritional quality of summer meals available to children through the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) summer meals programs. Objective The objective was to examine the extent to which summer meals contributed to meeting the daily nutritional goals from the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) for 9- to 13 -year -olds. The current study also analyzed the types of food offered and the top food sources of energy and nutrients in summer lunches. Design This cross-sectional study analyzed a nationally representative sample of summer meal sites participating in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) or the Seamless Summer Option (SSO). Setting Weekly lunch menus were obtained from 731 summer meal sites operating in the summer of 2018 (SFSP sites: n = 578; SSO sites: n = 153). Main outcome measures Outcome measures included the most frequently offered foods in the major food groups. The energy and nutrient content of lunches offered were estimated and compared with the daily nutritional goals provided by the 2015-2020 DGAs for 9- to 13 -year -olds. Statistical analyses performed Menu data were entered into USDA's SurveyNet and linked to the USDA's Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies 2015-2016. Foods were classified into major and minor food groups from the USDA's School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study. The energy and nutrient values were compared with the daily nutritional goals provided by the DGAs for children ages 9 to 13 years. Results Summer lunches provided substantial contributions toward the daily goals for energy and nutrients for 9- to 13 -year -olds. SSO programs provided significantly more vegetables than SFSP programs (P < 0.05) and contained significantly higher amounts of vitamins A (P < 0.05), C (P < 0.05), and iron (P < 0.05). Sodium amounts were below the daily limit for 9- to 13 -year -olds across both program types. Conclusions Although SSO lunches offered more vegetables than SFSP lunches, lunches served in both SSO and SFSP contributed substantially toward the daily goals for energy and nutrients.