US School Meals Are Healthier, Is That about to Change?
2020-03-04
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1Meals served to schoolchildren in the United States are healthier because of changes to nutrition requirements, a recent U.S. study suggests.
2The nutrition requirements started during the 2012-2013 school year.
3Since then, breakfasts and lunches served at schools now follow guidelines designed to help fight obesity and other problems linked to poor diets.
4Schools have been sure to include larger amounts of fruits and vegetables in ones that are lower in sodium.
5Old school lunches were higher in calories and fat.
6They also included larger amounts of sugar and fewer whole grains.
7However, new rules proposed by the administration of President Donald Trump could loosen some of those requirements, which were put in place by former President Barack Obama.
8Nearly 100,000 schools and institutions feed 30 million children each school day through the school meals programs.
9The study, released earlier this year, found that school meals had gotten healthier.
10It also found that more children ate the new school meals, and those who brought their lunch from home generally had healthier food than they did before.
11The researchers published the report in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
12Elizabeth Gearan is with Mathematica, a policy research group in Princeton, New Jersey.
13She was a co-writer of the study.
14She told Reuters news agency, "Encouraging children to consume school meals during the school year is an important step in improving children's diets."
15Gearan added that it is also important to help children to establish a healthy way of eating.
16Healthier school meals can help them do that.
17In the study, researchers examined one week of school breakfast and lunch menus from over 800 schools before the 2012 nutrition guidelines took effect.
18They also looked at one week of menus from more than 1,000 schools in 2014.
19Their findings showed that the healthy-eating-index scores rose after the new guidelines took effect.
20The index is a measure that gives points for things like whole foods.
21It takes away points for empty calories, sugars and fats.
22Lunch scores climbed from 58 percent of the most points before the guidelines took effect, to 82 percent after.
23Breakfast scores moved up from 50 percent to 70 percent of the most possible points.
24One limitation of the study is that researchers looked only at changes in the menus.
25They did not look at how much of the meals the children actually ate before and after the changes.
26However, Gearan said that other research suggests food waste does not change much when the menus change.
27Sonny Perdue is the Secretary of Agriculture under Trump.
28In January, he announced proposals to loosen the food rules and let schools have more of a choice in what they serve their students.
29Perdue said that schools "continue to tell us that there is still too much food waste," and that flexibility is "needed" to provide meals that students want to eat.
30"We listened and now we're getting to work," Perdue said in a statement.
31One of the changes includes permitting students to take only what they want to eat.
32Some observers say that children throw away too much food because they do not like what they are served.
33Critics of the proposal say this is likely to mean students will choose less healthy foods.
34The new rules are open for public comments until the end of March.
35There is no set time for when the proposed rules would be put in place.
36Marlene Schwartz is director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at the University of Connecticut in Hartford.
37She was co-writer of an editorial published with the study.
38She told Reuters that the proposed changes by the U.S. Department of Agriculture "are a step in the absolute wrong direction."
39She said they "are taking away the incentive for the industry to invest in creating healthier products for schools."
40I'm Anne Ball.
41And I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Meals served to schoolchildren in the United States are healthier because of changes to nutrition requirements, a recent U.S. study suggests. 2The nutrition requirements started during the 2012-2013 school year. 3Since then, breakfasts and lunches served at schools now follow guidelines designed to help fight obesity and other problems linked to poor diets. Schools have been sure to include larger amounts of fruits and vegetables in ones that are lower in sodium. 4Old school lunches were higher in calories and fat. They also included larger amounts of sugar and fewer whole grains. 5However, new rules proposed by the administration of President Donald Trump could loosen some of those requirements, which were put in place by former President Barack Obama. 6Study findings 7Nearly 100,000 schools and institutions feed 30 million children each school day through the school meals programs. 8The study, released earlier this year, found that school meals had gotten healthier. It also found that more children ate the new school meals, and those who brought their lunch from home generally had healthier food than they did before. 9The researchers published the report in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 10Elizabeth Gearan is with Mathematica, a policy research group in Princeton, New Jersey. She was a co-writer of the study. 11She told Reuters news agency, "Encouraging children to consume school meals during the school year is an important step in improving children's diets." Gearan added that it is also important to help children to establish a healthy way of eating. Healthier school meals can help them do that. 12In the study, researchers examined one week of school breakfast and lunch menus from over 800 schools before the 2012 nutrition guidelines took effect. They also looked at one week of menus from more than 1,000 schools in 2014. 13Their findings showed that the healthy-eating-index scores rose after the new guidelines took effect. The index is a measure that gives points for things like whole foods. It takes away points for empty calories, sugars and fats. 14Lunch scores climbed from 58 percent of the most points before the guidelines took effect, to 82 percent after. Breakfast scores moved up from 50 percent to 70 percent of the most possible points. 15One limitation of the study is that researchers looked only at changes in the menus. They did not look at how much of the meals the children actually ate before and after the changes. However, Gearan said that other research suggests food waste does not change much when the menus change. 16Sonny Perdue is the Secretary of Agriculture under Trump. In January, he announced proposals to loosen the food rules and let schools have more of a choice in what they serve their students. 17Perdue said that schools "continue to tell us that there is still too much food waste," and that flexibility is "needed" to provide meals that students want to eat. 18"We listened and now we're getting to work," Perdue said in a statement. 19One of the changes includes permitting students to take only what they want to eat. Some observers say that children throw away too much food because they do not like what they are served. 20Critics of the proposal say this is likely to mean students will choose less healthy foods. 21The new rules are open for public comments until the end of March. There is no set time for when the proposed rules would be put in place. 22Marlene Schwartz is director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at the University of Connecticut in Hartford. She was co-writer of an editorial published with the study. 23She told Reuters that the proposed changes by the U.S. Department of Agriculture "are a step in the absolute wrong direction." 24She said they "are taking away the incentive for the industry to invest in creating healthier products for schools." 25I'm Anne Ball. 26And I'm Bryan Lynn. 27Lisa Rapaport wrote this story for Reuters. Anne Ball wrote this story for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. 28What kind of foods do schoolchildren eat in your country? What do you think of this story? Write to us in the comments section below. 29________________________________________________________________ 30Words in This Story 31guideline - n. a rule or instruction that shows or tells how something should be done - usually plural 32encourage - v. to make (something) more appealing or more likely to happen 33consume - v. to eat or drink something 34menu - n. the foods that are served at a meal 35index - n. a sign or number that shows how something is changing or performing 36editorial - n. an essay in a newspaper or magazine that gives the opinions of the editors or publishers 37absolute - adj. complete and total-always used before a noun 38incentive - n. something that encourages a person to do something or to work harder