Table 3.
Nutritional Intake of Students Consuming School-Provided Lunch (SL) vs. Lunch Obtained Elsewhere (Non-SL) by Socioeconomic Status (SES).
| Family SES | <130% PIR 1 | 130–185% PIR | >185% PIR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eligible for Free/No-Cost Lunch | Eligible for Reduced Price Lunch | Full Price Lunch | ||||
| Mean | SE | Mean | SE | Mean | SE | |
| Lunch Energy Content (kcal) | ||||||
| School lunch | 414.3 | 17.2 | 393.5 | 22.9 | 493.2 | 31.6 |
| Other lunch | 654.0 | 32.9 | 458.2 | 43.3 | 539.5 | 36.6 |
| p-value | <0.0001 | 0.20 | 0.27 | |||
| Meal Portion (grams) | ||||||
| School lunch | 234.6 | 8.6 | 232.0 | 16.5 | 234.9 | 15.8 |
| Other lunch | 309.3 | 16.4 | 213.9 | 20.6 | 244.5 | 20.7 |
| p-value | <0.0001 | 0.40 | 0.72 | |||
| Meal Energy Density (kcal/g) | ||||||
| School lunch | 1.90 | 0.03 | 1.95 | 0.09 | 2.14 | 0.07 |
| Other lunch | 2.11 | 0.04 | 2.02 | 0.11 | 2.18 | 0.07 |
| p-value | <.0001 | 0.65 | 0.58 | |||
| Meal carbohydrate s (g) | ||||||
| School lunch | 47.7 | 2.0 | 50.0 | 3.1 | 55.6 | 3.5 |
| Other lunch | 71.0 | 4.3 | 52.7 | 5.3 | 63.2 | 4.4 |
| p-value | <0.0001 | 0.60 | 0.11 | |||
| Meal protein (g) | ||||||
| School lunch | 18.2 | 1.0 | 15.4 | 1.1 | 21.4 | 1.9 |
| Other lunch | 26.9 | 1.5 | 17.8 | 2.2 | 19.9 | 2.0 |
| p-value | <0.0001 | 0.39 | 0.60 | |||
| Meal Total Fat (g) | ||||||
| School lunch | 17.1 | 0.9 | 15.2 | 1.0 | 20.8 | 1.6 |
| Other lunch | 29.5 | 1.6 | 19.7 | 2.0 | 23.7 | 2.0 |
| p-value | <0.0001 | 0.06 | 0.20 | |||
| Saturated Fat (g) | ||||||
| School lunch | 5.5 | 0.3 | 5.3 | 0.4 | 7.0 | 0.7 |
| Other lunch | 9.2 | 0.5 | 6.2 | 0.7 | 6.7 | 0.7 |
| p-value | <0.0001 | 0.38 | 0.74 | |||
| Lunch Food Pattern Equivalents and Other Nutrients of Concern | ||||||
| Sodium (mg) | ||||||
| School lunch | 843.9 | 36.2 | 848.3 | 80.3 | 1010.1 | 88.9 |
| Other lunch | 1333.7 | 73.1 | 902.0 | 114.1 | 983.6 | 122.0 |
| p-value | <0.0001 | 0.67 | 0.87 | |||
| Dietary fiber (g) | ||||||
| School lunch | 3.9 | 0.2 | 4.0 | 0.4 | 3.9 | 0.3 |
| Other lunch | 4.9 | 0.4 | 3.7 | 0.3 | 4.5 | 0.3 |
| p-value | 0.016 | 0.42 | 0.06 | |||
| Added sugars (tsp. equiv.) 2 | ||||||
| School lunch | 1.7 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 0.3 |
| Other lunch | 3.7 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 0.5 |
| p-value | 0.0001 | 0.97 | 0.47 | |||
| Meal solid fats (g equiv.) | ||||||
| School lunch | 8.4 | 0.7 | 8.7 | 0.8 | 11.7 | 11.7 |
| Other lunch | 13.1 | 1.1 | 9.2 | 1.6 | 9.1 | 9.1 |
| p-value | 0.0002 | 0.84 | 0.18 | |||
| Vegetables (cup equiv.) 3 | ||||||
| School lunch | 0.28 | 0.02 | 0.25 | 0.06 | 0.19 | 0.04 |
| Other lunch | 0.35 | 0.03 | 0.33 | 0.07 | 0.35 | 0.06 |
| p-value | 0.025 | 0.40 | 0.01 | |||
| Fruits (cup equiv.) 4 | ||||||
| School lunch | 0.34 | 0.03 | 0.39 | 0.11 | 0.28 | 0.06 |
| Other lunch | 0.12 | 0.02 | 0.17 | 0.07 | 0.23 | 0.07 |
| p-value | <0.0001 | 0.07 | 0.60 | |||
| Grains (ounce equiv.) | ||||||
| School lunch | 1.8 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 0.2 | 2.5 | 0.2 |
| Other lunch | 2.7 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 0.2 |
| p-value | 0.002 | 0.52 | 0.80 | |||
| Whole Grains (ounce equiv.) | ||||||
| School lunch | 0.08 | 0.02 | 0.15 | 0.07 | 0.07 | 0.03 |
| Other lunch | 0.13 | 0.06 | 0.07 | 0.03 | 0.24 | 0.04 |
| p-value | 0.39 | 0.32 | <0.0001 | |||
| Refined Grains (ounce equiv.) | ||||||
| School lunch | 1.77 | 0.09 | 1.71 | 0.16 | 2.39 | 0.22 |
| Other lunch | 2.58 | 0.18 | 2.02 | 0.32 | 2.29 | 0.15 |
| p-value | 0.002 | 0.385 | 0.630 | |||
| Protein Foods (ounce equiv.) 5 | ||||||
| School lunch | 1.3 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 0.2 |
| Other lunch | 2.0 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 0.3 |
| p-value | 0.002 | 0.14 | 0.91 | |||
Regression models with least-squared means presented, representing population intake during the lunch meal. Models are adjusted for age in years, sex, race, and energy intake. 1 PIR, Poverty-Income Ratio based on household size and survey cycle year. 2 Added sugars is calculated using sugar content of foods and ingredients defined by the USDA as added sugars. 3 Vegetables includes dark green, red, orange, starchy and other vegetables. 4 Fruits includes total intact fruit (whole or cut) and fruit juices used as sweeteners in foods, but excludes fruit juices consumed as beverages. 5 Protein foods includes meat, poultry, organ meat, cured meat, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, and soy products.