Tuesday, January 31, 2012
What is Nutrition in Education: School Meals
What is Nutrition in Education: School Meals
School lunches get a bad wrap... and honestly, they often deserve
it. They are supposed to follow strict guidelines, but sometimes the
stringency to which they are followed is more than a little
questionable. School lunches consist of a lot of breaded chicken product
and a lot of heat-and-serve, super processed food products. Do they
have to, no. But it's a lot less work for the foodservice workers, and a
lot less complaining in the lunch line if they are.
The Healthy Eating Index survey of children aged 2-17 finds that children have inadequate intake of fruits,
vegetables and whole grains. The NSLP is designed to meet 1/3 of a child's recommended intake for the day, and the School Breakfast program provides for an additional 1/4 of a child's dietary needs. these statistics show that the school meals that are served to over 31 million school children each school day may be falling short of their designated goals.
Meanwhile, children who eat school lunches are in general more adequately nourished and consume foods from a wider variety of food groups than those who eat a packed lunch. Condon et al found that while intake of these plant foods among children is
inadequate, NSLP
participants are more likely than nonparticipants to have an improved intake of
these food groups. Meanwhile, Clark & Fox found that NSLP
participation was associated with higher intake of calcium, potassium, and fiber
and reduced prevalence of inadequate intake of magnesium, phosphorous, vitamin
A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, folate, and thiamin.
This says very little for what is being fed to children by their parents - which brings us to another component of nutrition in education - reaching out to the families. I will have to go back, and add that one to our list of Nutrition in Education topics!
Condon et al: School meals: Types of foods offered to and
consumed by children at lunch and breakfast.
Clark & Fox: Nutritional quality of the diets of US publicschool children and the role of the school meal program
Labels: What is Nutrition Education
by E Pace at 6:44 PM |
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