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Analysis
of Summer Food Service Program and Food
Needs of Nonparticipating Children
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
The Analysis of the Summer Food
Service Program (SFSP) and Food Needs of
Non-participating Children was designed
to determine why children who attended
elementary school during the 2003-2004
school year and were eligible for free
or reduced-price meals did not
participate in SFSP. For the purposes of
this report, children who are eligible
for free or reduced-priced meals will be
referred to as "SFSP-eligible
children." The target sample for
this study was a nonprobability sample
of 200 households with elementary
school-aged, SFSP-eligible children.
Results of the survey cannot be
generalized nationwide due to the
limited sample size and the restricting
of sampling to households in areas of
Miami, FL; Kansas City, MO; Oakland, CA;
and Salisbury, MD. Eighty-three percent
of the households included
non-participating SFSP-eligible children
while 17 percent included participating
SFSP-eligible children. The research
questions addressed by the study and the
findings are:
- Are households of qualifying
children who do not participate in
the SFSP aware of the SFSP? If yes,
what are the reasons for
non-participation?
More than half of the parents or
guardians whose children were
non-participating but SFSP eligible
during the previous school year were
not aware of SFSP sites in their
areas. Among the 55 parents or
guardians who were aware of sites but
did not send their children, 23 (42%)
had chosen a different summer program.
The others gave various reasons why
the SFSP program they knew about did
not meet their needs.
- Are qualifying children who do not
participate in SFSP food insecure or
hungry? Is this different from the
situation when the regular school
year is not in session?
Households with non-participating
SFSP-eligible children that did not
know about a local SFSP site were more
likely than others to be classified as
moderately or severely hungry,
according to a Food Security Index
developed from the USDA Guide to
Measuring Household Food Security.
Most parents or guardians were about
evenly divided between their belief
that their children ate more healthy
and balanced food in the summer vs.
the regular school year. However, a
small percent believed that their
children ate better in the summer.
They did not feel, however, that they
had access to more food or to more of
any specific type of food during the
school year in contrast to summer.
- Are the perceptions and attitudes
about the eating patterns of SFSP-eligible
children different for households
with non-participating children
compared to families with children
participating in SFSP?
Parents or guardians with
participating SFSP-eligible children
relied heavily on the program to
provide breakfast (79%) or lunch (91%)
for their children. Parents of
non-participating SFSP-eligible
children thought it was important for
a summer program to provide breakfast
and lunch for their children.
Virtually all of the respondents who
did not know about a SFSP site thought
that it was important for a program to
provide both breakfast and lunch; most
of those familiar with a site,
although their children did not
participate, did also. When parents
were asked what they could do to
improve their children's eating
arrangements and the kinds of food
they eat during the summer months,
most demonstrated an awareness of food
choices that are considered to be
healthy and claimed that, if they
could, they would provide healthier
food - "rich in vitamins,"
"more fruit and vegetables,"
"baked foods instead of
fried," or "less fast food
or junk food."
- What are the feeding arrangements
for SFSP-eligible children if, or
when, they are not participating in
SFSP?
Most parents, when queried in
person, thought that their children
were fed properly even after the
program was over for the summer, and
were satisfied with the feeding
arrangements for their children even
when the program was not in session.
During the in-person interview, 18 of
the 19 respondents with participating
SFSP-eligible children indicated that
they had no problem feeding their
children when the program was not in
session.
- What are the child care
arrangements for SFSP-eligible
children if, or when, they are not
participating in SFSP?
Over half of mothers took care of
their children themselves when or if
they were not participating in the
SFSP. Other caretakers included day
care centers, summer schools, camps,
and individuals known to the family.
About 20 percent of respondents
indicated that there were periods of
time during the day when no one was
available to watch the child, and most
thought this was a problem.
The SFSP clearly is important to
households with SFSP-eligible children
who participate in the program. Most of
these households rely on the program to
provide breakfast and lunch for their
children. Virtually all households with
non-participating SFSP-eligible children
would like their children to have access
to a summer program that provides
breakfast and lunch. More information
about the SFSP sites, perhaps presented
through the schools, might be a
reasonable approach for raising rates of
participation. States should also be
encouraged to solicit the participation
of all qualified summer food providers
for children into the Summer Food
Program, as either sponsors or operators
of summer sites under a SFSP sponsor.
Last modified: 12/04/2008
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