Predictors of adherence to food and beverage standards in California high schools

Passage of California Senate Bills 12 and 965 called for the implementation of unprecedented nutrition standards which regulate school foods and beverages in all K-12 schools. This was the first legislation of its kind that applies to high school aged youth. A comprehensive evaluation comparing pre- and post-implementation was conducted with 56 randomly selected California high schools to assess the impact of the standards on the school food and beverage environment, meal program participation, student intakes of selected foods, and food service competitive food and beverage revenues. Methods included systematic site observations, surveys of food service directors, and financial reports from school food service. During this presentation we will discuss 1) the extent to which schools were able to comply with the food and beverage standards 2) factors which influenced their ability to meet the standards 3) the impact on student food and beverage intake and meal program participation. Factors associated with schools meeting the standards will be discussed. Analyses suggest that both non-modifiable factors such as student ethnicity, urban/rural location, free and reduced price meal eligibility, and school size, as well as modifiable factors such as effective monitoring of policy implementation, student involvement, and the type of strategy used to implement and adhere to standards influenced the schools' varying abilities to comply with the legislation.