Exploring the Effects of the National School Lunch Program on Child Obesity and Development Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study

Rachel Dunifon, Cornell University
Lori Kowaleski-Jones, University of Utah

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federally sponsored nutrition program serving approximately 26 million children a day with estimated expenditures of $5.8 billion in 1998 (Oliveira, 1999). Recent estimates indicate that the NSLP is available to 92% of U.S. students, and that 56% of these students participate in the program (Burghardt and Devaney, 1995). Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, 1998-1999 Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), this study examines three research questions. First, what are the effects of participation in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) on changes in children's test scores and measures of obesity? Second, do these effects differ by measures of children?s school context? Finally, do these effects differ by characteristics of children such as gender or income status?