Observational Protocol
National School Lunch Program menus
need to meet nutritional requirements
over the course of 1 week;
therefore, observational data were
collected in each elementary school
for 5 consecutive school days.7 All
pre-K and K students in each school
were served NSLP meals consisting of
similar portion sizes. An observational
checklist reflecting the meal components
of the day's specific menu and
commonly consumed items from
packed lunches were used to record
data on the presence of all food and
drinks served as part of the NSLP
and brought from home, with writein
sections for additional foods
that may have not been part of
the observational checklist. Each
researcher was assigned a specific
grouping of students to observe for a
lunch period, approximately 10 students/
researcher