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- Written by: Anna Localio, University of Washington and Jessica Jones-Smith, University of Washington
School meals are critical to child health. Research has shown that school meals can be more nutritious than meals from other sources, such as meals brought from home.
A recent study that one of us conducted found the quality of school meals has steadily improved, especially since the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act strengthened nutrition standards for school meals. In fact, by 2017, another study found that school meals provided the best diet quality of any major U.S. food source.
Many American families became familiar with universal free school meals during the COVID-19 pandemic. To ease the financial and logistical burdens of the pandemic on families and schools, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued waivers that allowed schools nationwide to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students. However, these waivers expired by the 2022-23 school year.
Since that time, there has been a substantial increase in schools participating in the Community Eligibility Provision, a federal policy that allows schools in high poverty areas to provide free breakfast and lunch to all attending students. The policy became available as an option for low-income schools nationwide in 2014 and was part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. By the 2022-23 school year, over 40,000 schools had adopted the Community Eligibility Provision, an increase of more than 20% over the prior year.
We are public health researchers who study the health effects of nutrition-related policies, particularly those that alleviate poverty. Our newly published research found that the Community Eligibility Provision was associated with a net reduction in the prevalence of childhood obesity.
Improving the health of American children
President Harry Truman established the National School Lunch Program in 1946, with the stated goal of protecting the health and well-being of American children. The program established permanent federal funding for school lunches, and participating schools were required to provide free or reduced-price lunches to children from qualifying households. Eligibility is determined by income based on federal poverty levels, both of which are revised annually.
In 1966, the Child Nutrition Act piloted the School Breakfast Program, which provides free, reduced-price and full-price breakfasts to students. This program was later made permanent through an amendment in 1975.
The Community Eligibility Provision was piloted in several states beginning in 2011 and became an option for eligible schools nationwide beginning in 2014. It operates through the national school lunch and school breakfast programs and expands on these programs.
The policy allows all students in a school to receive free breakfast and lunch, rather than determine eligibility by individual households. Entire schools or school districts are eligible for free lunches if at least 40% of their students are directly certified to receive free meals, meaning their household participated in a means-based safety net program, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or the child is identified as runaway, homeless, in foster care or enrolled in Head Start. Some states also use Medicaid for direct certification.
The Community Eligibility Provision increases school meal participation by reducing the stigma associated with receiving free meals, eliminating the need to complete and process applications and extending access to students in households with incomes above the eligibility threshold for free meals. As of 2023, the eligibility threshold for free meals is 130% of the federal poverty level, which amounts to US$39,000 for a family of four.
Universal free meals and obesity
We analyzed whether providing universal free meals at school through the Community Eligibility Provision was associated with lower childhood obesity before the COVID-19 pandemic.
To do this, we measured changes in obesity prevalence from 2013 to 2019 among 3,531 low-income California schools. We used over 3.5 million body mass index measurements of students in fifth, seventh and ninth grade that were taken annually and aggregated at the school level. To ensure rigorous results, we accounted for differences between schools that adopted the policy and eligible schools that did not. We also followed the same schools over time, comparing obesity prevalence before and after the policy.
We found that schools participating in the Community Eligibility Provision had a 2.4% relative reduction in obesity prevalence compared with eligible schools that did not participate in the provision. Although our findings are modest, even small improvements in obesity levels are notable because effective strategies to reduce obesity at a population level remain elusive. Additionally, because obesity disproportionately affects racially and ethnically marginalized and low-income children, this policy could contribute to reducing health disparities.
The Community Eligibility Provision likely reduces obesity prevalence by substituting up to half of a child’s weekly diet with healthier options and simultaneously freeing up more disposable income for low-to-middle-income families. Families receiving free breakfast and lunch save approximately $4.70 per day per child, or $850 per year. For low-income families, particularly those with multiple school-age children, this could result in meaningful savings that families can use for other health-promoting goods or services.
Expanding access to school meals
Childhood obesity has been increasing over the past several decades. Obesity often continues into adulthood and is linked to a range of chronic health conditions and premature death.
Growing research is showing the benefits of universal free school meals for the health and well-being of children. Along with our study of California schools, other researchers have found an association between universal free school meals and reduced obesity in Chile, South Korea and England, as well as among New York City schools and school districts in New York state.
Studies have also linked the Community Eligibility Provision to improvements in academic performance and reductions in suspensions.
While our research observed a reduction in the prevalence of obesity among schools participating in the Community Eligibility Provision relative to schools that did not, obesity increased over time in both groups, with a greater increase among nonparticipating schools.
Universal free meals policies may slow the rise in childhood obesity rates, but they alone will not be sufficient to reverse these trends. Alongside universal free meals, identifying other population-level strategies to reduce obesity among children is necessary to address this public health issue.
As of 2023, several states have implemented their own universal free school meals policies. States such as California, Maine, Colorado, Minnesota and New Mexico have pledged to cover the difference between school meal expenditures and federal reimbursements. As more states adopt their own universal free meals policies, understanding their effects on child health and well-being, as well as barriers and supports to successfully implementing these programs, will be critical.
Anna Localio, Ph.D. Candidate in Health Services, University of Washington and Jessica Jones-Smith, Associate Professor of Health Systems and Population Health, Epidemiology, University of Washington
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 19, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The meeting can be watched live on Channel 8, online at https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx and on the county’s Facebook page. Accompanying board documents, the agenda and archived board meeting videos also are available at that link.
To participate in real-time, join the Zoom meeting by clicking this link.
The meeting ID is 898 7006 8634, pass code 694057. The meeting also can be accessed via one tap mobile at +16699006833,,83106989699#,,,,*694057#. The meeting can also be accessed via phone at 669 900 6833.
In an item timed for 9:10 a.m., the board will get a report on the current status of the Konocti Gardens project and the Special Districts sewer improvement project on Alvita Avenue in Clearlake to mitigate the development impacts.
The staff report said Konocti Gardens is a 102-unit multifamily apartment complex development off of Old Highway 53 near Highlands Way.
Construction on Special Districts’ improvement project is anticipated to occur this summer and to be completed by fall, staff reported.
The full agenda follows.
CONSENT AGENDA
5.1: Approve revised letter of support for California Coastal Conservancy LiDAR Derivatives Funding and authorize the chair to sign.
5.2: Approve Amendment No. 2 to the agreement between county of Lake and Redwood Community Services Inc. for the Lake County WRAP Program, Foster Care Program, and Intensive Services Foster Care (ISFC) Program for Specialty Mental Health Services with no change to the contract maximum for fiscal years 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25 and authorize the board chair to sign.
5.3: Approve Board of Supervisors minutes from March 5 and March 12, 2024.
5.4: Approve purchase of one vehicle from Downtown Ford through the state contract, in the amount of $57,374.76, and authorize the probation chief to issue purchase order.
5.5: Approve purchase of two vehicles from Downtown Ford – Sacramento in the amount of $57,347.76 each for the Central Garage fleet and authorize the Public Works director/assistant purchasing agent to issue the purchase orders.
5.6: Approve Change Order No. 2, for FEMA FMAG Culvert Replacement No. 3 Project, Federal Project No.’s FMAG DR 5189-FM-CA, Bid No. 21-04, for an increase of $17,524.28 and a revised contract amount of $264,261.58, and authorize the chair to sign.
5.7: Approve Judicial Advocate General Grant #15PBJA-21-GG-01104-JAGX decline letter and authorize chair to sign.
TIMED ITEMS
6.2, 9:03 a.m.: Pet of the Week.
6.3, 9:04 a.m.: Presentation considering annual delinquent sewer and water tax roll schedule and established staff direction from Board of Supervisors.
6.4, 9:10 a.m.: Consideration of report to the board on the current status of the Konocti Gardens project and the Special Districts sewer improvement project on Alvita Avenue in Clearlake to mitigate the development impacts.
6.5: Continued from Feb. 6, 9:45 a.m., public hearing, consideration of an ordinance amending the Purchasing Ordinance: Article X of Chapter Two of the Lake County Code to include increased purchasing limits, additional definitions, modify requirements for exemptions from competitive bidding and additional procedures for informal and formal bidding.
6.6, 10 a.m.: Consideration of a presentation from Nielsen Merksamer on the 2024 legislative session, state budget and potential bills of interest.
6.7, 10:15 a.m.: Public hearing, (a) consideration of resolution approving an application for funding and the execution of a grant agreement and any amendments thereto from the 2023-2024 Funding Year of the State CDBG Mitigation Resilience Infrastructure (MIT-RIP) Program; and (b) authorize the county administrative officer or designee to submit the grant application.
UNTIMED ITEMS
7.2: Consideration of appointment to the East Region Town Hall.
7.3: Consideration of general fund loan request of $3,000,000 and loan of $1,000,000 from Department of Social Services Realignment Fund.
7.4: Consideration of resolution approving a short-term loan from the general fund by way of the Technology Reserve, Fund 154, to Behavioral Health Services, Fund 145, in the amount of $3,000,000.
7.5: Consideration of Amendment No. 2 to the agreement between the Lake County Behavioral Health Services as lead administrative entity for the Lake County Continuum of Care and Adventist Health Clear Lake Hospital Inc. in the amount of $443,000 for fiscal years 2021-2024 and authorize the board chair to sign.
CLOSED SESSION
8.1: Public employee evaluation: Public Services director.
8.2: Addendum, conference with legal counsel: Existing Litigation pursuant to Gov. Code sec. 54956.9 (d)(1) – FERC Project No. 77, Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The council will meet Tuesday, March 19, at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
The agenda can be found here.
The council chambers will be open to the public for the meeting. Masks are highly encouraged where 6-foot distancing cannot be maintained.
If you cannot attend in person, and would like to speak on an agenda item, you can access the Zoom meeting remotely at this link or join by phone by calling toll-free 669-900-9128 or 346-248-7799.
The webinar ID is 973 6820 1787, access code is 477973; the audio pin will be shown after joining the webinar. Those phoning in without using the web link will be in “listen mode” only and will not be able to participate or comment.
Comments can be submitted by email to
On Tuesday, the council will start off the evening with the introduction of new employees Bryan Carlson, Mel Olea, Jen Baker and Michelle Brown.
The council will hold a public hearing ahead of its consideration of adopting a 2% permit fee for permit processing, inspections, public awareness and education campaigns, and fire operations and suppression efforts related to the sale of safe and sane fireworks.
City documents indicate the city already has a 5% permit fee on the fireworks.
The city of Lakeport is the only place in Lake County where fireworks are permitted. That’s because voters passed Measure C in November 2009 after the council had attempted to end fireworks sales.
In council business, staff will ask council members to adopt a proposed resolution authorizing the submittal of an application to the California State Department of Housing and Community Development for funding under the HOME Investment Partnership Program.
City Manager Kevin Ingram also will present a progress update on staff’s work to meet the 2023-24 departmental goals.
On the consent agenda — items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote — are ordinances; minutes of the City Council’s regular meetings on March 5; receipt and filing of the 2023 Housing Element Annual Progress Report; and receipt and filing of the 2023 2nd Quarter Community Development Report.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Places such as Mexico City, Peru and Bolivia had some of the largest drops in life expectancy from 2019 to 2021.
The research, which presents updated estimates from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021, provides the most comprehensive look at the pandemic’s toll on human health to date, indicating that global life expectancy dropped by 1.6 years from 2019 to 2021, a sharp reversal from past increases.
Among other key findings from the Global Burden of Disease, or GBD, child mortality continued to drop amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with half a million fewer deaths among children under 5 in 2021 compared to 2019. Mortality rates among children under 5 decreased by 7% from 2019 to 2021.
“For adults worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a more profound impact than any event seen in half a century, including conflicts and natural disasters,” says co-first author Dr. Austin E. Schumacher, acting assistant professor of Health Metrics Sciences at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, or IHME, at the University of Washington. “Life expectancy declined in 84% of countries and territories during this pandemic, demonstrating the devastating potential impacts of novel pathogens.”
Researchers from IHME identified high mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in places that were previously less recognized and/or reported.
For example, the study reveals that after accounting for the age of the population, countries such as Jordan and Nicaragua had high excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic that was not apparent in previous all-age excess mortality estimates.
In analyzing subnational locations not previously investigated, the South African provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo had among the highest age-adjusted excess mortality rates and largest life expectancy declines during the pandemic in the world.
Conversely, the places with some of the lowest age-adjusted excess mortality from the pandemic during this period included Barbados, New Zealand, and Antigua and Barbuda.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, mortality among older people worldwide rose in ways unseen in the previous 70 years. While the pandemic was devastating, killing approximately 16 million people around the globe in 2020 and 2021 combined, it did not completely erase historic progress — life expectancy at birth rose by nearly 23 years between 1950 and 2021.
GBD 2021 analyzes past and current demographic trends at global, regional, national, and subnational levels.
The study provides globally comparable measures of excess mortality and is one of the first studies to fully evaluate demographic trends in the context of the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In estimating excess deaths due to the pandemic, the authors accounted for deaths from the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, as well as deaths associated with indirect effects of the pandemic, such as delays in seeking health care.
Employing innovative methods to measure mortality, excess mortality from the COVID-19 pandemic, life expectancy, and population, the study authors estimate that the pandemic caused global mortality to jump among people over age 15, rising by 22% for males and 17% for females from 2019 to 2021.
GBD 2021 goes beyond assessing the impact of the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the authors note, it also offers “implications for the future of health-care systems, economies, and societies and ... a valuable foundation for policy evaluation, development, and implementation around the world.”
GBD 2021 indicates that, despite early warnings that COVID-19 could threaten the gains that the world had made in saving children’s lives, these improvements continued during the pandemic, albeit at a slower pace.
Still, stark differences in child mortality persist between regions. In 2021, one out of every four children who died worldwide lived in South Asia, while two out of every four children who died lived in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Our study suggests that, even after taking stock of the terrible loss of lives the world experienced due to the pandemic, we have made incredible progress over 72 years since 1950, with child mortality continuing to drop globally,” said co-first author Dr. Hmwe Hmwe Kyu, Associate Professor of Health Metrics Sciences at IHME at the University of Washington. “Now, continuing to build on our successes, while preparing for the next pandemic and addressing the vast disparities in health across countries, should be our greatest focuses.”
The GBD 2021 study also assessed population trends. Beginning in 2017, the rate of global population growth began to drop following years of stagnation. Then, during the COVID-19 pandemic, these declines accelerated.
As of 2021, 56 countries have reached peak population. Now, these countries are seeing their populations shrink. However, rapid population growth has continued in many lower-income countries. In addition, populations around the world are aging.
Between 2000 and 2021, the number of people who were 65 and older grew faster than the number of people under age 15 in 188 countries and territories.
“Slowing population growth and aging populations, along with the concentration of future population growth shifting to poorer locations with worse health outcomes, will bring about unprecedented social, economic, and political challenges, such as labor shortages in areas where younger populations are shrinking and resource scarcity in places where population size continues to expand rapidly,” says Dr. Schumacher. “This is worth restating, as these issues will require significant policy forethought to address in the affected regions. As one example, nations around the world will need to cooperate on voluntary emigration, for which one source of useful guidance is the UN’s Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.”
