Parental perception of children's school lunch milk.

ABSTRACT

School lunch programs are mandated by the US Code of Federal Regulations to serve pasteurized milk that is skim or 1% fat and fortified with vitamins A and D. In recent years, proposals have been made to alter nutritional requirements for school lunches and school lunch milk, including changes to the milk fat and flavor options available. The objective of this study was to evaluate parental understanding and perception of school lunch milk to better understand how changes to school lunch milk are perceived by parents. Four focus groups (n = 34) were conducted with parents of school-aged children (5-13 yr) who purchased milk as part of a lunch at school. Participants were asked about school lunch milk, including nutritional content, packaging, and flavoring. Focus groups included a build-your-own milk activity and discussion of children's milk products currently available on the market. Two subsequent online surveys were conducted with parents of school-aged children (survey 1, n = 216; survey 2, n = 133). Maximum difference scaling was used to evaluate what beverages parents would prefer their child to drink at school (survey 1) and which attributes of chocolate milk for children were most important to parents (survey 2). An adaptive choice-based conjoint activity (survey 1) included flavor, milk fat, heat treatment, label claims, and packaging type. Both surveys included questions to evaluate knowledge of milk nutrition and attitudes regarding milk and flavored milk. Agree/disagree questions were used in both surveys to assess parental opinions of school lunch milk. Survey 2 also included semantic differential (sliding scale) questions to assess parental opinions of chocolate milk and their acceptance of sugar alternatives in chocolate milk served in schools. Parents were familiar with the flavor options and packaging of school lunch milk, but expressed limited familiarity with school lunch milk fat content. Parents perceived milk to be healthy and a good source of vitamin D and calcium. From survey results, parents placed the highest importance on school lunch milk packaging, followed by milk fat percentage and flavoring over label claims and heat treatment. The ideal school lunch milk for parents was unflavored (white milk) or chocolate, 2% fat, and packaged in a cardboard gabletop carton. For school lunch chocolate milk, 3 distinct clusters of parents with differing opinions for children's chocolate milk were identified. Parents are largely unfamiliar with the specific attributes and nutritional profile of milk served in schools but believe that schools should offer milk to their children as part of breakfast and lunch. Parents in both surveys also displayed a preference for 2% fat milk over low-fat options, which provides actionable insight for both governmental bodies determining educational and nutritional policies for school meals and fluid milk producers seeking to optimize their products intended for schools.