New Studies Put School Food Front and Center

December 11, 2009 - The federal school meal program provides lunch to more than 30.5 million children and breakfast to 10.1 million children each school day. Recently the Institute of Medicine (IOM) convened a committee to provide recommendations for meal programs and reflect advances that have been made in dietary guidance and the nutrition standards established in 1995. The committee’s recommendations are presented in a new report, School Meals: Building Blocks for Healthy Children and key recommendations include: increasing the amount and variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains served as part of school meals; setting a minimum and maximum level of calories for meals; and focusing more on reducing saturated fat and sodium.

Despite dietary guidance recommendations, a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) assessment of school meals found that, while most schools meet requirements for vitamins, protein, calcium, and iron, only one in five schools served lunches that met the standard for total fat, set at 30 percent of calories or less.  A new USDA report, Meeting Total Fat Requirements in School Lunches: Influence of School Policies and Characteristics, indicates that certain food-related policies or practices are associated with the fat content of school lunches, including: promotion of fresh fruits and vegetables/local foods; the provision of french fries or dessert; offering lowfat milk as the only milk choice; and the type of meal planning method used.   Furthermore, the report provides information on how fat content varies across the U.S. based on such factors as school level, metro status, and geographic region.

In addition, several publications of new research are helping inform other issues surrounding healthy eating and foods sold outside the federal school programs, and a few examples are described in more detail below. 

For instance, a recent article from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Availability of Less Nutrition Snack Foods and Beverages in Secondary Schools—Selected States, 2002-2008, indicates that more and more secondary schools are removing less nutritious snacks and beverages from their campuses.  The report suggests that from 2002 to 2008, 37 out of 40 states participating in the School Health Profiles study saw an increase in the percentage of schools in which students could not purchase candy or salty snacks.  More states are also seeing increases in the number of schools that do not offer soft drinks or sports drinks.

Another new research synthesis—The Negative Impact of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages on Children’s Health—from Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, examined the evidence regarding the various health impacts of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption.  SSBs such as soda, sports drinks, and other high-sugar drinks have received much attention because research shows they contribute a significant number of calories to children’s diets and may thus contribute to the childhood obesity epidemic.  The research synthesis shows that: In 2004, adolescents consumed an average of 300 calories per day from SSBs (13 percent of their daily caloric intake); SSB consumption leads to excess caloric intake and weight gain, as well as increased obesity rates among children and adolescents; and substituting other beverages, such as water, for SSBs could reduce over-consumption of calories and improve nutrition. 

Finally, a new study from the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy indicates that when middle schools remove unhealthy snack foods and beverages from vending machines, etc, students do not compensate by eating more “junk” at home.  This study, The Impact of Removing Snacks of Low Nutritional Value from Middle Schools, shows that removing low nutrition items from schools decreased students’ consumption with no compensatory increase at home. Furthermore, there were no differences in students’ reported weight concerns. These results support the value of strengthening school nutrition standards to improve student nutrition and provide evidence dispelling concerns that such efforts will have unintended negative consequences.

All of these new publications, with their research findings and policy and practice implications, are useful as schools continue comprehensive efforts to improve the nutritional quality of foods they offer to students.  To learn more about healthy eating in schools, check out NSBA’s Healthy Eating “101” packet.