Impact of mealtime social experiences on student consumption of meals at school: A qualitative analysis of caregiver perspectives

Objective: To understand caregivers' perceptions about their children's mealtime social experiences at school, and how they believe these social experiences impact their children's consumption of meals at school (both meals brought from home and school meals). Design: Qualitative data were originally collected as part of a larger mixed methods study using an embedded-QUAN dominant research design. Setting: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with United States (U.S.) caregivers over Zoom^TM in English and Spanish during the 2021-2022 school year. The interview guide contained 14 questions on caregivers' perceptions about their children's experiences with school meals. Participants: Caregivers of students in elementary, middle, and high schools in rural, suburban, and urban communities in California (n=46) and Maine (n=20) were interviewed. Most (60.6%) were caregivers of children who were eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Results: Caregivers reported that an important benefit of eating meals at school is their child's opportunity to socialize with their peers. Caregivers also stated that their child's favorite aspect of school lunch is socializing with friends. However, some caregivers reported the cafeteria environment caused their children to feel anxious and not eat. Other caregivers reported that their children sometimes skipped lunch and chose to socialize with friends rather than wait in long lunch lines. Conclusions: Socializing during school meals is important to both caregivers and students. Policies such as increasing lunch period lengths and holding recess before lunch have been found to promote school meal consumption and could reinforce the positive social aspects of mealtime for students.