With schools across the country in various stages of re-opening this fall, it’s more important than ever to understand how the school environment can impact student health, attitudes, and behavior. When students eat healthier school meals provided through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), nutrition status, attendance, and cognitive functioning improve. Widespread participation in NSLP can also help to reduce disparities in health and educational outcomes. Yet, participation remains low.

Through a $20M initiative, referred to here as the School Transformation and Redesign of Cafeterias (STARCafé), 26 middle and high school cafeterias were reimagined to increase participation and improve overall cafeteria aesthetics. The Tisch Food Center conducted a case study of the STARCafé redesigns to evaluate the effects on school lunch participation, consumption, and attitudes. The Center also assessed the changes for fidelity to the Healthy Eating Design Guidelines.

Download the brief: Impact of Cafeteria Redesigns

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_{This research brief is based on the the article: Koch PA, Wolf RL, Trent RJ, Guerra LA. School Transformation after Redesign of 3 Cafeterias (STARCafé). Health Behavior and Policy Review. 2020;7(4):345–357.}