Using Social Media to Increase Participation in Universal Free School Meal Programs: An RCT With Parents of Elementary-Aged Children.

Abstract

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. This was an RCT. A total of 832 parents of elementary-aged children living in states with Universal Free School Meal programs were included. 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. 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. 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%). 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. This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT#06419218).