Parents of elementary-aged children in states with free school meals joined private Facebook groups to see if social media could help kids eat better. The study involved 832 families who received messages for six weeks. Some groups saw campaigns about school meals while others read about books. Researchers tracked how often children ate lunch and breakfast at school. They also watched how much parents noticed the messages and talked about them. The results showed parents in the meal groups noticed messages more and read them more than the control group. They also talked more with others about the topics. However, children did not eat more lunch or breakfast. The data showed no increase in lunch participation or breakfast participation. The campaign was safe with no reported side effects or dropouts. While the digital approach worked to get parents paying attention, it did not change what children ate at school. This suggests that simply sending messages to parents may not be enough to solve the problem of low meal participation.
Facebook campaign boosts awareness but not school meal uptake in childrenFacebook campaigns did not increase childrens school meal participation
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Key Takeaway
Consider that Facebook-based promotion may increase awareness but not school meal participation in children.
This randomized controlled trial enrolled 832 parents of elementary-aged children living in states with Universal Free School Meal programs. The intervention group received a school meal promotion campaign delivered through private Facebook groups for 6 weeks, while the control group received a campaign about reading. The primary outcome was children's school lunch and school breakfast participation.
Results showed that the intervention significantly increased noticing of campaign messages by 37 percentage points (p<0.05) and improved reading scores by 0.16 on a 1-5 scale (p<0.05). Talking with others about campaign messages also increased by 0.14-0.21 on 1-5 scales (p<0.05). However, there was no significant increase in school lunch participation (0.08 meals/week, 95% CI -0.08 to 0.25, p=0.30) or school breakfast participation (0.02 meals/week, 95% CI -0.16 to 0.20, p=0.81).
Safety and tolerability were not reported. Limitations were not specified in the available data. The study suggests that while digital campaigns can raise awareness, they may not be sufficient to increase actual meal participation. Clinicians should consider additional strategies to support families in accessing school meals.
What this means for you:
Facebook campaigns engaged parents but did not increase childrens school meal participation. View Original Abstract ↓
INTRODUCTION: As of 2025, 9 states have adopted Universal Free School Meal programs. The success of these programs depends in part on high participation. This study tested whether a social media campaign promoting school meal participation increases school lunch and breakfast participation in states with Universal Free School Meal programs.
STUDY DESIGN: This was an RCT.
SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: A total of 832 parents of elementary-aged children living in states with Universal Free School Meal programs were included.
INTERVENTION: Parents were randomized to a school meal promotion campaign or a control campaign about reading. Campaigns were delivered through private Facebook groups for 6 weeks between October and December 2024.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The coprimary outcomes were children's school lunch and school breakfast participation as reported by parents in baseline and follow-up surveys. Secondary outcomes included engagement with the campaigns (e.g., noticing, reading, and talking about campaign messages) and perceived barriers to participation in school meals. Data were collected in September-December 2024 and analyzed in 2025.
RESULTS: The school meal promotion campaign elicited more noticing of the campaign messages (difference versus control, 37 percentage points); reading the campaign messages (difference=0.16 on a 1-5 scale); and talking with others about the campaign messages, school meals, and the benefits of school meals (differences=0.14-0.21 on 1-5 scales) (all ps<0.05). The campaign did not increase participation either in school lunch (difference-in-differences=0.08 meals/week, 95% CI= -0.08, 0.25, p=0.30) or breakfast (difference-in-differences=0.02 meals/week, 95% CI= -0.16, 0.20, p=0.81). Parents reported several barriers to their child's participating in school lunch and breakfast, including that the child does not like the meals (38%-63% of parents reported), the meals appear to be low quality (17%-27%), and there is not enough time to eat (25%-30%).
CONCLUSIONS: Delivering school meal promotion campaigns to parents through Facebook is feasible and acceptable but may not be sufficient to increase children's school meal participation.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT#06419218).
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