The National Evaluation of School Nutrition Programs: program impact on anthropometric measures

This report describes the anthropometric analysis component of the National Evaluation of School Nutrition Programs. It addresses two research questions: First, is there a relationship between participation in the school nutrition programs and students' height, weight, and triceps fatfold, and, second, are the impacts of program participation on height, weight, and triceps fatfold different for students with different characteristics? The anthropometric analyses suggest that long-term participation in the School Lunch Program has no relationship to height but does have a small relationship to the weight of school-aged children. This is at least partly due to an increase in body fat. Program impacts do not differ for students with different income and ethnic characteristics; however, impacts are greater for older children than for younger children. The School Breakfast Program has no relationship with students' height and only weak relationships with students' weight and triceps fatfold. The Breakfast Program tends slightly to move participants toward the middle of the weight distribution and away from the extremes. Although there are statistically significant increases in weight and triceps fatfold thickness associated with participation in the School Lunch Program, they are small compared with effects of the child's sex, height, and ethnic background. Other variables, such as parents' height and weight, parents' education and family income, also have greater impacts on weight and triceps fatfold measurements than participation in the School Nutrition Programs.