USDA School Meals: Healthy Meals, Healthy
Schools, Healthy Kids
[Print Version]
The mission of USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service
is to increase food security and reduce hunger in partnership with
cooperating organizations by providing children and low-income
people with access to food, a healthful diet, and nutrition
education in a manner that supports American agriculture and
inspires public confidence.
USDA’s 15 nutrition assistance programs are the
first line of our Nation’s defense against hunger. They include the
Food Stamp Program (FSP), the school meals programs, and the Special
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children
(WIC).
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) administers the
National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program, which
provide nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches and breakfasts
to millions of students every school day.
USDA school meals programs operate under legislation
passed by the U.S. Congress. All meals are federally subsidized with
low-income children receiving meals at little or no cost. Under the
National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act, USDA has
authority to govern foods served in school cafeterias but does not have
authority over foods available in other areas of schools.
Over the course of one week, school meals must provide
1/3 or more of daily nutrient requirements and be consistent with the
Dietary Guidelines for Americans. While school meals must meet federal
nutrition requirements, decisions about what specific foods to serve and
how they are prepared are made by local school food authorities. Only
about 20 percent of the food served in school meal programs is provided
by USDA; the remaining 80 percent is determined at the local level.
National
School Lunch Program (NSLP)
During
the school year, 30 million students participate each school day in the NSLP in approximately 101,000 schools. Every school day, 17.5 million
students receive a free or reduced-price school lunch. More than 2
million children have been added to the National School Lunch Program
since 2001.
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Children
who participate in the National School Lunch Program eat
twice as many servings of vegetables at lunch as
non-participants. |
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The NSLP meal pattern
requirements are currently being updated to reflect the 2005
Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs). |
School
Breakfast Program (SBP)
Nearly 10 million children in 82,000 schools receive a
school breakfast every school day. In fiscal year 2006, 7.7 million
students received a free or reduced-price breakfast. Since 2001, more
than 2 million children have been added to the school breakfast program.
The School Breakfast Program operates much like the NSLP.
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Research
shows that eating breakfast helps children grow up healthy
and strong,(i) and do better in school; helps children
concentrate better in class and go to the school nurse less
frequently;(ii) and children who eat breakfast eat more
fruit than children who don’t. (iii) |
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The SBP meal patterns
are currently being updated to reflect the 2005 DGA’s. |
Wellness Policies
Beginning July 1, 2006, the U.S. Congress mandated that
all school districts participating in the NSLP and SBP develop and
implement a “local wellness policy.”
These local school wellness policies must:
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Involve parents,
students, and representatives of the school food
authority, the school board, school administrators, and
the public in the development of a local wellness
policy.
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Include nutrition
guidelines, selected by the local educational agency,
for all foods available on each school campus during the
school day with the objectives of promoting student
health and reducing childhood obesity.
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Include goals for
nutrition education, physical activity and other school-
based activities that are designed to promote student
wellness in a manner that the local educational agency
determines is appropriate.
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Establish a plan for
measuring implementation of the local wellness policy,
including designation of one or more persons within the
local educational agency or at each school, as
appropriate, charged with operational responsibility for
ensuring that the school meets the local wellness
policy.
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Nutrient Content is Improving
Results from the second School Nutrition Dietary
Assessment Study (SNDA-II) indicate that in school meals offered during
School Year 1998/1999, the percent of calories from total fat and
saturated fat were significantly lower than the levels found in the
first dietary assessment conducted in 1991/1992. Total fat was reduced
from 38 percent to 34 percent over that period.
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This improvement in
nutrient content has not reduced participation. In each
of the past two school years, total participation in our
programs has increased. Further, the increase in
participation has been greater than the increase in
enrollment.
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But there is more to be
done. While the School NutritionDietary Assessment Study
II (SNDA-II) data shows that more than 80 percent of
elementary schools and over 90 percent of secondary
schools offer students the opportunity to select a
low-fat lunch, the lunches that students select meet
that standard in only 21 percent of elementary schools
and 14 percent of secondary schools.
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A new study, the School
Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study III, is currently
being prepared for release in 2007 and will provide
updated data on the nutrient content of school meals and
their contribution to children’s diets.
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FNS is currently
updating the NSLP and SBP meal patterns to reflect the
2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. USDA anticipates
publishing a proposed rule in 2007. The proposed rule
will allow time for public comment.
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HealthierUS School Challenge
Through
the HealthierUS School Challenge, more than 100 schools have been
certified Gold or Silver schools since 2004. The School Challenge is an
extension of President Bush’s HealthierUS initiative and builds on
USDA’s efforts to improve the nutritional quality of school meals.
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The
HealthierUS School Challenge was established by FNS to
recognize schools that are creating healthy school
environments. |
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Elementary schools
are challenged to become certified as either Silver or Gold
Team Nutrition Schools, based on criteria for school meals,
criteria for other foods and beverages throughout the
school, nutrition education and physical activity. |
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In the first two and
a half years of the Challenge, 108 awards have been given to
elementary schools in 14 states. |
Team Nutrition
After School Snacks
The National School Lunch Program offers cash
reimbursement to help schools serve snacks to children in activities
after school that are aimed at promoting the health and well being of
children and youth. A school must provide children with regularly
scheduled activities in an organized, structured and supervised
environment; including educational or enrichment activities (e.g.,
mentoring or tutoring programs). Competitive interscholastic sports
teams are not an eligible after school program.
Summer
Food Service Program
A child’s need for good nutrition does not end when
school lets out. The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) provides free,
nutritious meals and snacks to help children in low-income areas get the
nutrition they need to learn, play, and grow, throughout the summer
months when they are out of school. Meals are served in congregate
settings, primarily in low-income areas. SFSP is operated by school
districts, local government agencies and other community organizations.
Additional Links
i Journal of the American
Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 37(2):163-170,
February 1998.
ii Minnesota Department of Children, Families and
Learning & University of Minnesota. School
Breakfast Programs
Energizing the Classroom. March 1998.
iii Children’s Diets in the Mid-1990s: Dietary Intakes and
Its Relationship with School Meal
Participation, USDA,
2001.
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