New Orleans’ school meals distribution in response to the Covid-19 pandemic
Operational details and geographic coverage
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22073733 |
|---|---|
| Authors | M Pia Chaparro (0000-0003-0496-8898, Tulane University), Jacob French (Guilford County Schools), Kristine Creveling (Center For Social Innovation), Naana Ennin (Xavier University of Louisiana), Tiffany Numa (Xavier University of Louisiana), Megan Knapp (0000-0001-8575-9101, Xavier University of Louisiana) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Pages | 1191325-1191325 |
| Publication date | 2023-06-23 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Frontiers in Public Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2296-2565 • E-ISSN: 2296-2565 |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1191325 |
| PMID | 37427255 |
| OpenAlex | W4381856092 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 8 |
Introduction: To facilitate continuation of school feeding during COVID-19 school lockdowns, U.S. Congress authorized waivers to allow for school meals to be picked up by parents/guardians in non-school settings. We summarized school meals distribution and characterized reach in socially vulnerable neighborhoods in New Orleans, a city prone to environmental disasters, with a city-wide charter school system, and historically high levels of child poverty and food insecurity. Methods: School meals operations data were obtained from New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA) Public Schools for 3/16/2020-5/31/2020. For each pick-up location, we estimated: average meals available (weekly), average meals served (weekly), number of weeks of operation, and rate of meal pick-up ([meals served/meals available]*100). These characteristics were mapped in QGIS v3.28.3, along with neighborhoods' Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). Pearson correlation and ANOVA were run to assess differences between operations characteristics and neighborhood SVI. Results: From 38 meal sites, 884,929 meals were available for pick-up; 74% of pick-up sites were in moderately/highly socially vulnerable areas. Correlations between average meals available and served, weeks of operation, rate of meal pick-up, and SVI were weak and not statistically significant. SVI was associated with average rate of meal pick-up but not other operations characteristics. Discussion: Despite the disaggregated nature of the charter school system, NOLA Public Schools successfully pivoted to providing children with pick-up meals due to COVID-19 lockdowns, with 74% of sites located in socially vulnerable neighborhoods. Future studies should describe the types of meals provided to students during COVID-19, in terms of diet quality and nutrient adequacy
Charter · Charter school · Computer security · Economic growth · Economics · Environmental health · Geography · Meal · Pandemic · Poverty · Social vulnerability · Socioeconomics · Sociology · COVID-19 and Mental Health · COVID-19 epidemiological studies · Demography · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations · Medicine
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |