School meals across the nation will receive a back-to-school makeover this fall.
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The new Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 will improve the nutrition of children across the America and make for stronger, healthier students in Daviess County.
While the old school lunch could feature day after day of French fries, the new guidelines aim to improve the quality of food served. More fruits, vegetables and whole grains are called for in order to help reduce the country’s growing obesity epidemic. The new regulations also feature a maximum calorie limit based on meals and students’ grade levels. Fat-free and low-fat milk will replace whole and reduced-fat milk. Finally, schools will be required to gradually reduce the sodium content in the meals they serve by 2020.
Some food service directors might worry about the increased costs associated with these new menu changes. However, the new legislation does provide for increased reimbursements for schools to serve these more nutritious meals. And health advocates point to even greater savings by making these changes now. U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack warns that we will not be able to contain health care costs attributed to the rising obesity epidemic if drastic action is not taken. Paying slightly more upfront in school meals will pay dividends over the course of a child’s lifetime.
To put those costs into context, one study based on 2006 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and RTI International found that obesity costs public and private payers as much as $147 billion each year.
Pediatricians and health practitioners agree that these meal changes can’t come too early. Says Michelle Roach, a registered nurse with the Lexington School District and a pediatric nurse practitioner at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, healthcare providers have seen more children challenged by weight, in part because of diet choices.
"We’ve found that some of the biggest culprits are sweet juices and drinks being consumed instead of milk and water," says Roach. Along with the changes to school lunches, Roach advocates that children be taught good eating habits. She explains, "It’s important to talk to children about nutrition, balanced diets, and portion sizes."
To help your student or school get started with these changes, the Missouri Food to School project recommends that parents and school food service staff can make the transition easier by:
* Pilot a few menu items and market them first. Putting something very new on a menu can be a big change for small taste buds.
* Engaging everyone. Parents, students and other teachers can get involved with the changes through surveys, taste tests and recipe contests.
*Look at your menu at home. At home, you can serve many of the same items and set your child up for a lifetime of healthy eating.
* Get trained. New food menus and preparation require training. There are many opportunities over the summer and on the Internet to help food service staff. Also, MU Extension has a new cookbook for large volume cooking that can help with new recipes.
* Look for purchasing opportunities. You can partner with local farmers and food providers to provide more fresh foods that are locally grown and competitively priced.
* Share your success. Other parents, schools and health advocates want to learn what’s working and will often incorporate those successes into their own menu planning.
For more information, visit http://MoFarmtoSchool.missouri.edu.
Some of the changes on the menu will include: tator tots to baked sweet potatoes; bean and cheese burrito to sub sandwich on whole wheat roll; frozen fruit juice bar to steamed broccoli; and applesauce to cantaloupe wedges.