The impact of nutrition standards on competitive food offerings and purchasing behaviors of high school students.

Background: With adolescent obesity rates on the rise, the school food environment is receiving closer scrutiny. This study looks at the effects of nutrient standards as part of a wellness policy that was implemented in 3 public high schools in 1 county, by analyzing the nutritional value of competitive food offerings and purchases before and after the development of the standards.

Methods: All food offerings and purchases were labeled based on their nutritional density using a stoplight approach of green, yellow, and red colors for the pre- and post- period. The stoplight approach to ranking foods is on a continuum of nutrient density, with green foods being the healthiest choices and red foods offering minimal nutrient density.

Results: Results showed that after the implementation of the standards, red foods made up 30% of offerings, down from 48% of offerings prior to the existence of the guidelines. The proportion of red food purchases also decreased, from 83% to 47%. Additionally, yellow food offerings increased from 18% to 48% and purchases increased from 6% to 34%.

Conclusions: Results indicate that the nutrient standards as part of the wellness policy contributed to a positive shift in the nutritional value of competitive food purchases and offerings.