The Department of Health and Behavioral Studies, Program in Nutrition, Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education and Policy, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
New York Health Foundation, New York, NY 10018, USA.
Nutrients. 2022 Aug 16;14(16):3358. doi: 10.3390/nu14163358.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, significantly fewer of New York City's (NYC's) 1.1 million public school children participated in emergency grab-and-go meals-heightening the risk of inadequate nutrition security for many of NYC's most vulnerable residents. This study sought to examine student families' facilitators and barriers to participation in the grab-and-go meal service and their experiences with pandemic-electronic benefit transfer (P-EBT) funds, a cash benefit distributed when schools were closed. We recruited 126 parents of children in NYC public schools who had participated in the grab-and-go service. Using opened-ended questions, we interviewed 101 parents in 25 1-h online focus groups. We identified four main themes which broadly impacted school meal participation: communication, logistics, meal appeal, and personal circumstances. Key facilitating subthemes included clear communication, ease of accessing sites, and high variety. Key sub-themes negatively impacting participation included limited communication and low meal variety. Accurate, timely communication; easily accessible distribution locations; and convenient distribution times could have increased participation and satisfaction. For P-EBT, parents welcomed the funds and used them readily, but some experienced difficulties obtaining payments. The simultaneous inclusion of community-based research in the evaluation of emergency feeding programs could improve future outcomes for school meal participation and electronic benefits.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，纽约市（NYC）110 万公立学校学生中，参与紧急抢拿食物的人数明显减少——这增加了许多最脆弱居民营养安全不足的风险。本研究旨在探讨学生家庭参与抢拿食物服务的促进因素和障碍因素，以及他们对疫情电子福利转移（P-EBT）资金的体验，即学校关闭时发放的现金福利。我们招募了 126 名在纽约市公立学校就读的儿童家长，这些家长曾参与过抢拿食物服务。我们通过开放式问题，在 25 个 1 小时的在线焦点小组中采访了 101 名家长。我们确定了四个主要主题，这些主题广泛影响了学校膳食参与度：沟通、物流、膳食吸引力和个人情况。主要促进主题包括清晰的沟通、方便访问网站和高度的多样性。主要的负面影响参与主题包括沟通有限和膳食种类有限。准确、及时的沟通；方便访问的分发地点；以及便利的分发时间，可以提高参与度和满意度。对于 P-EBT，家长们对这些资金表示欢迎，并很乐意使用，但有些人在获得付款方面遇到了困难。在评估紧急喂养计划时同时纳入社区研究，可以改善学校膳食参与和电子福利的未来结果。
