Updated Meal Patterns in the Child and Adult Care Food Program and Changes in Quality of Food and Beverages Served: A Natural Experimental Study
In this study, a natural experimental, longitudinal study of child care centers participating in CACFP was compared to nonparticipating centers to assess whether the quality of food and beverages served (per menu analysis) improved following the CACFP meal pattern changes in 2017. Results showed CACFP centers were more likely to meet several key nutrition standards in comparison to non-CACFP centers overall, but there were no differences in menu quality from before to after the 2017 standards change between CACFP and non-CACFP centers.
Full citation: Andreyeva T., Mozaffarian, R. S., & Kenny, E. L. (2022). Updated Meal Patterns in the Child and Adult Care Food Program and Changes in Quality of Food and Beverages Served: A Natural Experimental Study. Nutrients, 14(18), 3786. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14183786