BACKGROUND In 2015, the US Department of Agriculture set minimum education and training requirements (ie, professional standards) to ensure that school nutrition professionals have the knowledge and experience to operate school meal programs. No study to date has examined whether hiring requirements and qualifications of school food authority (SFA) directors have changed since 2015. OBJECTIVE To assess changes in hiring requirements and qualifications of SFA directors since the US Department of Agriculture professional standards were established, overall and by district size. DESIGN Cross-sectional analysis of nationally representative district-level data from the 2012 and 2016 cycles of the School Health Policies and Practices Study. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING In 2012, 660 sampled districts completed the School Health Policies and Practices Study Nutrition Services questionnaire. In 2016, 599 sampled districts completed the questionnaire. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Hiring requirements for newly hired SFA directors and reported qualifications of SFA directors. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED Differences in prevalence estimates from 2012 to 2016 for all districts and by district size were assessed with χ2 tests. RESULTS Significant increases were found for 3 hiring requirements: degree in nutrition or related field, registered dietitian credential, and food safety certification. Significant changes in 4 of the 5 reported qualifications were found including an increase in the percentage of district directors with a degree in nutrition or a related field and decreases in the percentage of directors with a School Nutrition Specialist credential from the School Nutrition Association, School Nutrition Association certifications, and certified dietary managers. Changes were found in small and medium districts, but not large districts. CONCLUSIONS District hiring requirements and SFA director qualifications have changed since the implementation of the US Department of Agriculture professional standards, including some differences by district size. Future research could identify challenges facing districts in hiring directors who have a degree in nutrition or related fields or who have specialized nutrition credentials or certificates (eg, registered dietitians).

中文翻译：

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美国农业部专业标准实施后，部分地区学校食品管理局局长招聘要求和资格发生变化

背景2015年，美国农业部制定了最低教育和培训要求（即专业标准），以确保学校营养专业人员具备运营学校供餐计划的知识和经验。迄今为止，尚无研究考察自 2015 年以来学校食品管理局 (SFA) 主管的招聘要求和资格是否发生变化。 目的 评估自美国农业部专业标准制定以来，学校食品管理局 (SFA) 主管的招聘要求和资格的总体变化和逐年变化。地区规模。设计 对 2012 年和 2016 年学校健康政策和实践研究周期中具有全国代表性的地区级数据进行横断面分析。参与者/环境 2012 年，660 个抽样地区完成了学校健康政策和实践研究营养服务调查问卷。2016年，599个样本地区完成了问卷调查。主要成果措施 新聘任 SFA 董事的聘任要求和报告的 SFA 董事资格。进行的统计分析 通过 χ2 检验评估了 2012 年至 2016 年所有地区和地区规模的患病率估计差异。结果 3 项招聘要求显着增加：营养或相关领域学位、注册营养师证书和食品安全认证。所报告的 5 项资质中有 4 项出现了显着变化，包括拥有营养学或相关领域学位的地区主管比例增加，以及拥有学校营养协会学校营养专家证书的地区主管比例下降、学校营养协会认证和认证饮食经理。中小地区有变化，大地区则没有变化。结论 自实施美国农业部专业标准以来，学区招聘要求和 SFA 主任资格发生了变化，其中包括因学区规模而异的一些差异。未来的研究可以确定各地区在招聘拥有营养或相关领域学位或拥有专业营养证书或证书（例如注册营养师）的董事时面临的挑战。