Table 2.
Benefits of implementing California’s USM policy during the SY 2022–2023, as reported by Californian school food authorities, stratified by FRPM eligibility and enrollment size.
| Change | FRPM Eligibility 1 | Enrollment Size 2 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low (n = 120) |
High (n = 262) |
p-Value | Small (n = 207) |
Medium (n = 110) |
Large (n = 68) |
p-Value | ||||||
| n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | |||
| Changes that most reported as having increased 3 | ||||||||||||
| Foodservice revenues | 76 | 63.3 | 176 | 67.2 | 0.46 | 113 | 54.6 | 85 | 77.3 | 55 | 80.9 | 0.0001 a,b |
| School meal participation | 92 | 76.7 | 154 | 58.8 | 0.001 | 129 | 62.3 | 72 | 65.5 | 46 | 67.7 | 0.69 |
| Changes that most reported as having decreased 4 | ||||||||||||
| Stigma for low-income students | 49 | 40.8 | 70 | 26.7 | 0.01 | 48 | 23.2 | 41 | 37.3 | 30 | 44.1 | 0.001 a,b |
| Unpaid meal charges/debt | 52 | 43.3 | 107 | 40.8 | 0.65 | 74 | 35.8 | 50 | 45.5 | 37 | 54.4 | 0.02 b |
1 Free or reduced-price meal (FRPM) eligibility was defined as SFAs with low FRPM eligibility (40% or fewer FRPM students) vs. high FRPM eligibility (SFAs with more than 40% FRPM students) in the SY 2022–2023. 2 Enrollment size was defined as small (≤2499 students), medium (2500 to 9999 students), and large (≥10,000 students). p-values for size represent the overall effect of enrollment size. The statistical significance for pairwise comparisons is indicated as follows: a difference between medium and small SFAs; b difference between large and small SFAs; no significant differences were observed between medium and large SFAs. 3 Frequencies representing SFAs that identified the changes as having increased slightly or greatly. Other answer options were: “no change”, “decreased slightly”, and “decreased greatly”. 4 Frequencies representing SFAs that identified the changes as having decreased slightly or greatly; other answer options were: “no effect”, “increased slightly”, and “increased greatly”.