Technology and Design Innovation for School Lunch
- Conditions
- Childhood Obesity
- Interventions
- Behavioral: SmartMeal applicationBehavioral: Distributed points of saleBehavioral: Staff wellness curriculum
- Registration Number
- NCT02467816
- Lead Sponsor
- University of California, Berkeley
- Brief Summary
This study will evaluate an innovative school lunch intervention that is designed to increase school meal participation and improve dietary intake among middle and high school students.
- Detailed Description
Improving dietary intake among low-income youth is critical to reducing obesity, and schools are arguably the most important system in which to intervene. In 2010, Congress passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act to better align school meal standards with the Dietary Guidelines, making school meals a nutritious option for students. Increasing participation in the school meal program, therefore, especially among low-income youth, has the potential to improve dietary intake among students and ultimately reduce childhood obesity.
Over three school years, the University of California (Berkeley's School of Public Health and the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources' Nutrition Policy Institute) will evaluate an innovative, student-centered school-lunch intervention to increase school lunch participation and improve dietary intake among low-income middle and high school students. The project will be conducted in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), a large and diverse urban district serving over 32,000 students (70% of total) eligible for free or reduced-price meals. The intervention, developed in partnership with the global design firm IDEO, aims to promote healthier habits by leveraging principals of behavior economics. The intervention involves the following three components: 1) a smartphone application (SmartMeal) that allows students to pre-order school lunches, receive nutrition information about school lunch options, and provide feedback about meals to food service staff, 2) distributed points of sale for school meals, achieved through the addition of mobile food carts and vending machines, and 3) a staff wellness curriculum that encourages staff to promote school meals and model healthful eating behaviors to students.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 27406
- All 7th-10th grade students at participating schools are eligible to participate in the student survey
- All 6th-12th grade students who eat the school lunch are eligible to participate in plate waste data collection
- All 7th-10th grade teachers are eligible to participate in the teacher survey
- There are no exclusion criteria
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description School lunch intervention SmartMeal application Intervention schools (6 middle and 6 high) will receive the complete school lunch intervention for two school years. School lunch intervention Distributed points of sale Intervention schools (6 middle and 6 high) will receive the complete school lunch intervention for two school years. School lunch intervention Staff wellness curriculum Intervention schools (6 middle and 6 high) will receive the complete school lunch intervention for two school years.
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Change in school lunch participation 2 years Daily school lunch participation records broken down by grade, gender, and free or reduced-price meal eligibility at each school.
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Change in weekly fruit consumption 2 school years Student survey that asks about fruits consumed during a typical week
Change in plate waste during lunch among students who eat school lunch 2 school years Individual-level waste of food components achieved through visual estimation and aggregate waste of food components achieved through weighing.
Change in vegetable consumption at lunch 2 school years Student survey that asks about vegetables consumed at lunch yesterday
Change in body mass index (index) 2 school years BMI data collected each year on 7th and 9th grade students via the California Physical Fitness Test
Change in variety of fruits consumed by students at lunch 2 school years Student survey that asks about fruits consumed at lunch yesterday
Change in variety of fruits consumed by students each week 2 school years Student survey that asks about fruits consumed during a typical week
Change in fruit consumption at lunch 2 school years Student survey that asks about fruits consumed at lunch yesterday
Change in weekly vegetable consumption 2 school years Student survey that asks about vegetables consumed during a typical week
Change in variety of vegetables consumed by students at lunch 2 school years Student survey that asks about vegetables consumed at lunch yesterday
Change in variety of vegetables consumed by students each week 2 school years Student survey that asks about vegetables consumed during a typical week
Trial Locations
- Locations (24)
Galileo High School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
Everett Middle School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
Academy High School and Ruth Asawa School of the Arts
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
Aptos Middle School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
Herbert Hoover Middle School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
Wallenberg High School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
Balboa High School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
James Denman Middle School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
John O'Connell High School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
Visitacion Valley Middle School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
Washington High School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
AP Giannini Middle School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
Francisco Middle School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
June Jordan High School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
Lowell High School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
Lincoln High School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
Marina Middle School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
Burton High School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
James Lick Middle School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
Marshall High School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
Martin Luther King Middle School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
Mission High School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
Presidio Middle School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States
Roosevelt Middle School
🇺🇸San Francisco, California, United States