27/09/2017 Study Shows Healthier Lunches Lead to Higher Test Scores - The Atlantic

Do Healthy Lunches Improve Student Test

Scores?

Formorethanadecade,standardized-testscoreshavebeenthedominantmetricformeasuringwhatpublic-schoolstudentsknow
andareabletodo.NoChildLeftBehind,thesweepingfederaleducationlawenactedin2002,usheredinaneweraofstudent
testingandschoolcompliance.Andintheyearsthatfollowedtomeettargetsandavoidsanctionseducationleadersatthelocal
andstatelevelshavesoughtavarietyofwaystobooststudentsperformanceontests,includingextendingtheschooldayand
givingbonuspaytoteachersbasedonstudentstestscores.Evenlessconventionalmethods,suchasbanningcellphonesand
oeringyoga-likeexercises,emergedasschooladministratorspursuedtheholygrailofhighstandardized-testscores.

Butaccordingtoanewstudy,theresoneoptionthatmayhavebeenoverlooked:theubiquitousschoollunch.Asdetailedina
recentpaper,economistssetouttodeterminewhetherhealthierschoollunchesaectstudentachievementasmeasuredbytest
scores.Theintensepolicyinterestinimprovingthenutritionalcontentofpublic-schoolmealsinadditiontovendorseortsto
markettheirschoolmealsasgoodforthebodyandthemindsparkedtheresearcherscuriosityandledtoanunexpected
discovery:Studentsatschoolsthatcontractwithahealthierschool-lunchvendorperformsomewhatbetteronstatetestsandthis
optionappearshighlycost-eectivecomparedtopolicyinterventionsthattypicallyaremoreexpensive,likeclass-sizereduction.

Whenschoolboardsaregoingoutandcontractingwiththesevendors,whatthey'rethinkingisthatthey'regoingtoimprovethe
healthofthestudents,thatthey'llgetthemtoeathealthier.Idon'tthinkthey'rethinkingofitasatooltoactuallyimprove
academicperformance[but]wefoundthatitis,saidMichaelL.Anderson,anassociateprofessorofeconomicsattheUniversity
ofCalifornia,Berkeley,andoneofthestudy'sco-authors.Somethingthatisbasicallycheap,thatisgoingtoimprovestudent
health,andthathastest-scoregainsseemslikeitwouldbeveryattractive[to]policymakers.

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27/09/2017 Study Shows Healthier Lunches Lead to Higher Test Scores - The Atlantic
AccordingtoAnderson,whospokeasschoolmealsreceivedrenewedattentionduetoPresidentTrumpsproposedbudget,thisis
therstlarge-scalestudytoexaminehowtheoverallnutritionalqualityofschoolmealsaectsstudenttest-scoreachievement.In
2010,aspartofapushtocombatchildhoodobesity,theHealthy,Hunger-FreeKidsActwaspassed,resultinginmorerigorous
nutritionstandardsforschoolcafeterias.Thereisabodyofrecentliteraturethatsuggestedalinkbetweenschoolmealsand
studenttestscores,butthatresearchfocusedonimprovingaccessratherthanthemealsnutritionalvalue.

Healthier meals could raise student achievement by about 4

percentile points on average.

Todeterminethelinkbetweenfoodqualityandstudentachievement,Andersonandhiscolleaguescollecteddatafromthe
CaliforniaDepartmentofEducationonschooldistrictsmealvendorsfortheacademicyearsfrom2008-09to2012-13.Overthat
ve-yearperiod,1,192schoolsabout12percentofCaliforniapublicschools,includingpubliccharterschoolscontractedforat
leastoneschoolyearwithanoutsidecompanytoprovidelunch.
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contentofvendorsschoollunches.Armedwithsampleschool-lunchmenus,NPIcalculatedtheHealthyEatingIndex(HEI),aU.S.
DepartmentofAgriculturemeasureofdietaryqualityforfooditems,forallofthosecompaniesmeals.TheaverageHEIscore
amongallvendorswithmenuinformationwastabulated,andvendorswithabove-medianscoreswereclassiedashealthyschool-
lunchproviders.Buttherewasstillonecrucialpieceofinformationmissing:howstudentsatschoolswithhealthyvendorsstacked
upagainsttheirpeersatnon-vendorschoolsonstatetests.

Inpursuitofthatanswer,thestudysauthorscompiledadatabasecoveringthesameve-yeartimespanwithschool-by-grade-level
testresultsonCaliforniasStandardizedTestingandReportingexam,astatewidetestgivenatthetimetoallpublic-schoolstudents
ingrades2through11.Testscoredatafromsome9,700elementary,middle,andhighschoolsfoundthatcontractingwitha
healthymealvendorcorrelatedwithincreasedstudentperformancebybetween.03and.04standarddeviationsastatistically
signicantimprovementforeconomicallydisadvantagedandnon-disadvantagedstudents,Andersonsaid,addingthatthesizeof
theeectisnothugebutitisnotable.

Whatsmore,hesaid,districtsarealmostgettingtheseimprovementsfreeofcharge.Aftertabulatingtheaveragepricepermealin
thevendorcontractsandestimatingthecostofin-houseschoolmealsbasedonNationalSchoolLunchProgramreimbursements
thestudyfoundthatitcostabout$222perstudentperyeartoswitchfromin-houseschool-lunchpreparationtoahealthierlunch
vendorthatcorrelatedwithariseof0.1standarddeviationsinthestudentstestscore.Toputthatstatisticintoperspective,
healthiermealscouldraisestudentachievementbyabout4percentilepointsonaverage.

Incomparison,itcost$1,368peryeartoraiseastudentstestscoreby0.1standarddeviationsintheTennesseeSTARexperiment,
aprojectthatstudiedtheeectsofclass-sizeonstudentachievementinelementaryschool.Thepapernotesthatestablished
researchintheeldsupportstheneedforlower-costpolicieswithmodesteectsonstudenttestscores[that]maygeneratea
betterreturnthancostlypolicieswithlargerabsoluteeects.

SeanPatrickCorcoran,anassociateprofessorofeconomicsandeducationpolicyatNewYorkUniversitysSteinhardtSchoolof
Culture,Education,andHumanDevelopment,saidthestudyunderscoresthepositiveimpactofschoolsservinghealthiermeals,
andhesecondedtheauthorsconclusionsregardingcost-eectiveness.I'veseenanumberofotherrigorousstudiesthatalsond
aconnectionbetweenhealthyeatingandacademicperformance,hesaid.Studentswhoeatregular,healthymealsarelesslikely
tobetired,aremoreattentiveinclass,andretainmoreinformation.Andhesaidsomeeectsarealmostimmediate:Evenwhen
schoolsservecalorie-richfoodontestday,studentsperformbetteronthosetests.

InOakland,California,KwekoPower,15,asophomoreatOaklandHighSchool,agreedthattheresanacademicbenetto
healthiermealscitingclassmateswhoskipschoollunchbecauseitsunhealthyandunappealingbutshebelievesthebenets
extendbeyondtestscores.Whenstudentseathealthierandbetterfood,theygetmorestaminabecausetheirbodydoesn'thaveto
workashardtoprocesswhattheyreeating,shesaid.Whenyoueatandfeelgood,you[are]happierandfeellesscranky.
WhileIamusuallyupbeataroundpeople,Ican'tbemyselfwithoutgoodfood.

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27/09/2017 Study Shows Healthier Lunches Lead to Higher Test Scores - The Atlantic

Without good food, students are just stressed at school, and

then still stress about being expected to perform well.

ForchildrenlivinginareasofconcentratedpovertylikeOakland,goodfoodlikefruits,vegetables,andwholegrainscanbehardto
comeby.Asecondaryndinginthestudywasthatcontractingwithahealthylunchprovidershowednoevidenceofreducing
studentobesity.AndPowerspersonalexperiencehelpsexplainwhy.Inmyneighborhood,wehaveaLucky's[grocerystore]
nearbybutit'sexpensiveit'scheapertogotothethreeliquorstoresthatarewithinveblocksofthatLucky's,shesaid.When
thereareliquorstoresthatsellcheaperandunhealthierfood,familiestendtooptforcheaperfood;theyhavenootherchoice.In
areaswhereyouthdon'thaveaccesstohealthierfoodoptions,you'lltendtoseemoreobesity.

Power,astudentleaderwithCaliforniansforJustice,emphasizedthattestscoresaside,accesstohealthierfoodisfundamentally
anissueofequityandcivilrights.It'salsoimportanttolookatstresslevelsandwhatcontributestostressforstudents,Power
explained.Shesaidhungerandlackofpropernutritionareeverydayworriesforlow-incomestudents.Withoutgoodfood,
studentsarejuststressedatschool,andthenstillstressaboutbeingexpectedtoperformwell.Havinghealthyschoolmealsisreally
relatedtohowtheschoolsystemisservingstudentsthatdon'thave[muchaccessandavailability]toresources.

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/03/do-healthy-lunches-improve-student-test-scores/520272/ 3/3