Group aims to cut sodium and fat from school meals
VIDEO - There are new recommendations on how the nation's schools can make breakfast and lunch programs more nutritious...
Just weeks before Congress is set to take up the expired Child Nutrition Act, there are new recommendations on how the nation’s schools can make breakfast and lunch programs more nutritious.
The Institute of Medicine says new federal standards are needed to combat soaring obesity and diabetes in children. The agency is proposing sweeping changes to federally subsidized school meals.
The proposal includes posting fruit and vegetables and whole grain products, offering only skim and 1% milk, lowering sodium levels and fat intake, and introducing maximum calorie guidelines in addition to the current minimum calorie guideline.
“We sort of have to balance the program so that children who don’t get enough food will be ensured to get enough food and guard against children getting to many calories due to concerns about childhood obesity,” explains senior researcher Mary Kay Fox.
Government research shows obesity rates have tripled for children ages 6 to 19 since the 1970s. Experts say the school nutrition standards do not meet the government’s current dietary guidelines.
Over the past decade the federal government has made some changes in the guidelines. This year, the first lady made it a mission to teach kids healthy eating habits, creating a food garden at the White House and working with area school children.
Nutritionists point out there are healthy foods on school menus now and parents can help steer their kids to making better choices.
“I think that school meals should be models for an ideal diet, but I think what parents do at home could help to reinforce that,” says the UNC School of Public Health’s Dr. Suzanne Hobbs.
The Institute of Medicine also says schools do not have to wait for the USDA and Congress to take action.
“None of these are counter to current standards, so they can start implementing the recommendations today,” Fox explains.
Until then, the only hurdle for schools may be cost.
The proposed standards could increase breakfast prices by 20 percent and lunches by four percent. The Department of Agriculture will decide whether to implement the nutritional recommendations.
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