WASHINGTON – As part of a sweeping effort to help improve nutrition for schoolchildren and fight childhood obesity, the Agriculture Department is proposing for the first time to require schools to bring their cafeteria menus into compliance with the latest U.S. dietary guidelines.
While the department limits the sale of soda and some junk foods in school cafeterias, it has not required schools to implement the 2005 Dietary Guidelines that call for increased consumption of whole grains, fruit and vegetables. Nor does it regulate vending machines, a la carte menus or other food and beverages sold in schools outside of the cafeteria, although a bill introduced by Sens. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, seeks to do that.
“We are proposing very significant increases in fruit and vegetables,” said USDA Secretary Mike Johanns, adding that “we want to reach out to schools and give them more flexibility” in providing healthier options to students.
The USDA plan is one of a handful of nutrition initiatives in its proposed 2007 Farm Bill. They include changing the name and easing some eligibility requirements for the Food Stamp program that serves some 26 million low-income citizens and the elderly. Also included are proposals for nutrition education, with a five-year, $100 million competitive grant program for combating obesity.
The USDA is proposing to spend $6 million to provide guidance and technical assistance to school food professionals to bring school meals in line with the latest guidelines.
“We’re bringing them up to speed because they are way behind,” said Nancy Montanaz Johner, USDA Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, at a briefing on the Farm Bill.
“This is the first time that the USDA – and Congress – have addressed the nutrition standards for school meals in a while,” said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group. “They should’ve done this the day that the 2005 Dietary Guidelines were issued because they knew what they were going to say … but they move at such a glacial pace that here it is a year and a half later and the proposed regulations have not even come out.”
Each year, the USDA provides 9 million breakfasts and 30 million lunches to students. Nearly 60 percent are served free or at a reduced price.
The 2005 update of the dietary guidelines made some of the biggest changes in recent years in urging greater consumption of whole grains, fruit and vegetables and nonfat dairy products, such as skim milk. Congress requires the USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services to review the guidelines every five years.
Numerous studies have shown that eating more fruit and vegetables, whether fresh, frozen, dried or canned, is linked to lower body weight, stronger bones and less risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. Yet national surveys show that only one in five Americans consumes the two cups of fruit recommended daily. Children under age 18 consume half or less of the recommended amounts.
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