The third School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study: background and study design

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Public Health
• Childhood Obesity Research

Background:

• The National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program are critical for student nutrition.
• Understanding the school food environment is essential for assessing dietary intake.
• Previous studies highlighted the need for comprehensive data on school meal programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the background and design of the third School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study (SNDA-III).
• To assess the role of school meals and competitive foods in students' diets.
• To analyze foods and nutrients available through school meal programs.

Main Methods:

• Nationally representative cross-sectional study of the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program in 2005.
• Three-stage sample design including district, school, and student levels.
• Data collection via surveys, interviews (including 24-hour dietary recall), and anthropometric measurements.

Main Results:

• Collected data on 130 school food authorities, 398 schools, and 2,314 students (grades 1-12).
• Achieved response rates of 83% for districts, 95% for schools, and 63% for students.
• Utilized descriptive tabulations and multivariate regression for analysis.

Conclusions:

• SNDA-III data offer a valuable resource for studying school meal programs and student diets.
• The study facilitates examination of interactions between school food environments and child obesity.
• Subsequent articles will present detailed analyses based on SNDA-III data.