Even when school meals are free, students don’t always eat them. A new study finds that barriers like food preferences, social stigma and perceptions about health may be just as influential as cost when it comes to school meal participation.
The study, published in the Journal of School Health, focused on universal meal programs implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under federal emergency policies, schools were allowed to serve free meals to all students, regardless of family income. While participation increased, many students still opted out.
To better understand why, researchers from New York University analyzed survey responses from 599 school foodservice directors in California and Maine. They also conducted follow-up interviews with 49 directors. The findings revealed three main reasons why students were skipping meals:
Students or parents didn’t think the food was healthy.
Students preferred to eat food from home or fast food.
There was lingering stigma, with some students and parents believing that only low-income kids used the meal program.
“Even when school meals are free, students don’t always take and eat them. This tells us that cost isn’t the only barrier,” said lead author Deborah Olarte, assistant professor of nutrition at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. “From the perspective of school foodservice directors, who are key stakeholders in providing school meals to children, it’s important to understand what other barriers exist, so school meals can be more accessible, appealing, and supportive of student well-being.”
Although the meals being offered already meet national nutrition standards, the study found that perception still matters. Many students and families assumed school meals weren’t healthy or didn’t reflect the kinds of foods they wanted to eat.
The authors note that making meals more appealing could involve several changes, including:
Offering more scratch-cooked items;
Involving students in menu development;
Allowing more time to eat during lunch periods; and
Normalizing participation to reduce stigma.
“As states consider universal free school meal policies, the next step is making the already healthy meals more appealing and accessible to students,” Olarte said. “This could be investing in scratch cooking, incorporating student feedback, and extending lunch periods to ensure meals are available without logistical barriers or stigma.”
The study underscores the idea that nutrition access is not just about availability, but also about trust, culture and dignity, especially in school settings where food plays a major role in health and learning.
This research was funded by California General Fund SB 170 and Share Our Strength.