ArticlePediatrics2024
Universal Free School Meals Policy and Childhood Obesity.
Article in Pediatrics, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Universal Free School Meals and School and Student Outcomes: A Systematic Review.JAMA network open · 2024Pooled it
- Loss of Access to Universal Free School Meals and Body Mass Index in Students.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Statewide Universal School Meals Policies and Food Insecurity: Difference-in-Differences Analysis.Pediatrics · 2026Article
- Exploring Drivers of Children's Food Choices: A Multi-Source Process Evaluation of a School-Based Nutrition Education Program.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- School Meals as a Strategy to Prevent Childhood Obesity and Advance Food Equity: A Narrative Review.Current obesity reports · 2026Review
- Age-specific life expectancies across school districts in the United States: Applying a population weighted geographic crosswalk to aggregate census tract indicators.SSM - population health · 2026Article
- The "pro-inflammatory imprint" of ultra-processed food exposure: a review of mechanisms affecting child and adolescent health and development via the gut microbiome-inflammation axis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- State and federal policies and school meal participation: A descriptive analysis from Arizona.PloS one · 2026Article
- School Provision of Universal Free Meals and Blood Pressure Outcomes Among Youths.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Unraveling Future Trends in Free School Lunch and Nutrition: Global Insights for Indonesia from Bibliometric Approach and Critical Review.Nutrients · 2025Review
- The Impact of Federal and State Laws on Cardiovascular Risk.Current cardiology reports · 2025Review
- Universal free school meals and child body mass index: impact among children in community-based health care organizations.Health affairs scholar · 2025Article
- School food programs and food insecurity at the REACH school network: an observational study.BMC public health · 2025Observational
- Understanding implementation determinants of universal school meals through an equity-driven mixed methods approach.Implementation science communications · 2025Article
- Poverty and Childhood Obesity: Current Evidence and Methodologies for Future Research.Current obesity reports · 2025Review
- Refined carbohydrates and the overfat pandemic: implications for brain health and public health policy.Frontiers in public health · 2025Review
- Designing for dissemination through community advisory board engagement in an implementation mapping process: A case study.Journal of clinical and translational science · 2025Article
- Nutritional strategies against dementia in rural populations.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Review
- Associations between Meal Patterns and Risk of Overweight/Obesity in Children and Adolescents in Western Countries: A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies and Randomised Controlled Trials.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesThe Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), a universal free school meals policy, increases school meal participation by allowing schools in low-income areas to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students; however, its impact on obesity remains uncertain. The objective of this study is to estimate the association of CEP with child obesity.
methodsSchool obesity prevalence was calculated using BMI measurements collected annually between 2013 and 2019 from students in California public schools in grades 5, 7, and 9. To estimate the association of CEP with obesity, we used a difference-in-differences approach for staggered policy adoption with an outcome regression model conditional on covariates, weighted by student population size.
resultsThe analysis included 3531 CEP-eligible schools using school-level obesity prevalence calculated from 3 546 803 BMI measurements. At baseline, on average, 72% of students identified as Hispanic, 11% identified as white, 7% identified as Black, and 80% were eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Baseline obesity prevalence was 25%. Schools that participated in CEP were associated with a 0.60-percentage-point net decrease in obesity prevalence after policy adoption (95% confidence interval: -1.07 to -0.14 percentage points, P = .01) compared with eligible, nonparticipating schools, corresponding with a 2.4% relative reduction, given baseline prevalence. Meals served increased during this period in CEP-participating schools only.
conclusionsIn a balanced sample of California schools, CEP participation was associated with a modest net decrease in obesity prevalence compared with eligible, nonparticipating schools. These findings add to the growing literature revealing potential benefits of universal free school meals for children's well-being.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.