Browsing by Subject "school meals"
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Item Increasing the Consumption of Whole Grain Foods in School Meals(2011-08-08) Warren, Cynthia AnnCurrent national dietary policy recommends that half, or three, of the six daily servings of grain foods be consumed as whole grains. However, most American children prefer to consume enriched, refined over whole grains. One way of increasing the consumption of whole grain foods to children is through school meals. Why children and adolescents prefer enriched, refined grains over whole grain foods is thought to be due to product color and texture, but no literature exists that quantifies this, especially within the context of the National School Lunch Program. Information and research is therefore needed to examine and address this issue. Since each school district's child nutrition department determines whether whole grain foods are offered in their schools, we conducted a roundtable discussion with Texas school dietitians to understand their experiences with providing whole grains. A phenomenological analysis of this discussion's transcript exposed how Texas school dietitians balance serving nutritious meals in their cafeterias, while maintaining customer acceptance of the foods. Whether or not students consume whole grains determines if these foods are served again. Input from participants determined which whole grain were foods tested in this study: hamburger buns, sandwich bread, tortillas and spaghetti. Focus groups were conducted with 137 elementary, middle and high school students in our targeted school district. Transcripts of these focus groups revealed the vocabulary students use to characterize their perceptions of whole grain foods tested. Using this vocabulary, consumer acceptance ballots were then developed and tested. Consumer acceptance testing of whole grain foods was conducted during scheduled lunch periods in three different schools. The main objective of this study was to determine at what percent do whole grains contained in grain foods served in school meals become unacceptable to students. Our study determined that a 51% whole grain food product was acceptable to students and a 100% whole grain product was not. Color, taste and texture of a whole grain food can influence its acceptance by these students, but that acceptance is dependent on the percent whole grain content of the food and whether it is made with white or red whole wheat flour.Item Indicators of Success When Incorporating Whole Grains into School Meals: HealthierUS School Challenge(2012-10-19) Sceets, Christine ElizabethThe 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans for the first time emphasized an increase in daily whole grain consumption in children, adolescents, and adults, and identified a recommended intake of 3 one-ounce servings per day. Despite national dietary policy recommendations and current scientific evidence encouraging an increase in whole grain intake, most Americans are consuming less than one whole grain serving per day. Therefore, a need to determine methods to increase whole grain intake in Americans does exist. One identified method would be to increase whole grain intake in children through the incorporation of whole grain foods into school meals. This study was designed to determine, through the creation of an online survey, methods utilized by school food service professionals overseeing HealthierUS School Challenge Gold rated elementary schools to successfully incorporate whole grain food products into school meals. Data collected from the online survey indicated school food service professionals that incorporated whole grains into their school meals by slowly modifying recipes and gradually incorporating new whole grain foods onto their existing menu were the most successful. Survey results also indicated that students preferred partial blend whole grain products compared to those made from 100% whole wheat. Additionally, survey participants reported barriers to whole grain food incorporation which included: product acceptability, whole grain product identification, whole grain product availability, and cost. There is a need to further understand measures that can be taken to successfully introduce more whole grain food products into elementary school lunches without causing a decrease in consumption of the school meals by students. Data gathered from this survey will be shared with the United States Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (USDA-FNS) to provide technical assistance to schools participating in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program on how to successfully menu whole grain food products in their schools and maintain alignment with current national dietary recommendations.