The New York City Department of Education invested $20 million to 
redesign 26 middle and high school cafeterias, referred to here as the School Transformation and Redesign of Cafeterias (STARCafé). The Tisch Food Center measured the effects of STARCafé on: 1) school lunch consumption; 2) factors that may influence school lunch consumption (i.e. seated time, attitudes toward school lunch, students' perception of cafeteria noise, and school lunch participation); 3) fidelity to specific Healthy Eating Design Guidelines; and 4) adoption of new food-related policies and programs. Data were collected before the redesign, and then 3-months and one year after redesign.

This study shows the potential for school cafeteria redesigns to promote long-term increases in participation and students’ attitudes toward school lunch. To promote long-term increases in fruit and vegetable consumption, efforts beyond the cafeteria redesign such as health-promoting menus, nutrition education, and food-related policies may be necessary.

Research brief: Impact of Cafeteria Redesigns

_{This is a research brief for the article: Koch PA, Wolf RL, Trent RJ, Guerra LA. School Transformation after Redesign of 3 Cafeterias (STARCafé). Health Behavior and Policy Review. 2020;7(4):345-357.}

_{Funding for this study was from a grant from Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation.}