Adherence
Schools can improve student nutrition and maintain financial viability by restricting competitive foods and enhancing the quality of reimbursable school meals.
Schools should replace unhealthy competitive foods (like soda and chips) with healthier alternatives rather than removing them entirely. This strategy can maintain or increase revenue by encouraging more students to purchase reimbursable school meals, thereby supporting both student health and school budgets.
Evidence about how reducing the sale of unhealthful foods and beverages or offering more healthful options would affect revenue is limited. But some studies have found that school food service staff reported no loss of revenue when they offered students more healthful à la carte choices. And schools in Maine, California, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania replaced soft drinks with more healthful beverages without losing revenue.
Why this rating
The paper cites observational studies and case examples of successful districts, but explicitly notes that 'limited evidence' exists regarding the financial impact of these changes.
Source
The Role of Schools in Obesity Prevention
Mary et al. · The Future of Children · 2006
DOI 10.1353/foc.2006.0007
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