Are School Lunches Making the Grade?

National School Lunch Program, Making the Grade?
Valerie came to see me with her three obese children. She knew her children were overweight, but she felt stuck. Despite working 40 hours per week, Valerie cooked healthy home-made dinners. Her kids were active despite her long work schedule. So Valerie relied on the schools to provide healthy lunches for her kids. Unfortunately, school lunches are not healthy and are contributing to obesity nationwide. This year Congress will be deciding what our kids eat at school. Parents like Valerie need to talk to Congress about changing these school lunches now.

I recently met with Congressman Miller's office to discuss whole fresh foods as the cornerstone of school meals. Currently, a weekly school lunch menu at a Vallejo public school includes the following entrees:chicken ring things, Reduced fat grilled cheese on whole grain stix ,turkey patty on a bun, hot dog bun or taco pocket , honey BBQ chicken nuggets with rice, or extreme bean & cheese burrito, wedge pepperoni pizza. On a daily basis the school serves milk, juice, a green salad and a fruit cup with other sides.
Sound healthy? It is not. Instead it is like a menu at the mall's food court, and Valerie's kids, and maybe yours, are eating this daily. How could Congress assume that this is healthy? Did they forget to check in with the US Department of Agriculture which educates us with the food pyramid? The USDA's food pyramid schema emphasizes meals where fruits,vegetables and grains are take up most of a plate of food while meat, dairy and sweets have very little room on the plate. Obviously, this is the reverse of a school lunch menu.These are hard economic times and school lunch issues can easily be forgotten.
But how we can we stand by and let our children eat food that is more chemicals than actual food? By offering the current options for school lunches, Congress is sitting idly by giving the children obesity. This will lead to and eariler onset of diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes.

So how do the schools decide what to feed our children? The Child Nutrition Act is the law that gives us the National Schools Lunch Program(NSLP). They decide what food items (broccoli vs meat) are provided to schools through commodities (inexpensive subsidized foods). To participate in the NSLP, schools must create menus which provide the USDA's nutritional requirements. This seems logical. However, schools are given a flexible method by which to "count" a serving of fruit or vegetable. Based on their guidelines, tomato paste can "count" as a serving of a vegetable in a days diet. Crazy.

Schools can count 100% fruit juice as nutritionally equaivalent to a serving of fruit. The American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement on juice includes this:"It is important to encourage consumption of the whole fruit for the benefit of fiber intake. Excessive juice consumption... may contribute to the development of obesity." Once the juice is processed it leaves sugar and water. Not healthy.

Many parents feel that at least their kids get their protein servings with school lunches. However, the meat the students receive is processed and has an excess of fat and salt to enhance taste. Schools provide more than the necessary servings of meat and dairy because they are inexpensive. Parents like Valerie are struggling with the work- life balance, making ends meet and the challenge of keeping their kids eating healthy. This is made more difficult because the school lunches are so grossly unhealthy.
So why are our children being served specifically excess meat and dairy instead of vegetables?
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine estimates that "in 2005, the federal government purchased more than $385 million of beef and cheese for food assistance—most notably school meals, contrasted with about $50 million for fresh fruits and vegetables." Vegetables were given only 13% of the total subsidies.

This year congress will be voting on the re-authorization of the Child Nutrition Act. The law as last signed in 2004.The funds allocated to meat and dairy were not proportional to what the USDA recommends a typical plate of food should look like. That needs to change and it must change now. Parents must stop the obesity epidemic by talking to Congress.The first step would be revamping the Child Nutrition Act by offering increased subsidizes for fruits and vegetables. Tipping the scales so that the federal subsidies look more like a proportional relationship to the food pyramid.
If we dont do anything now, we are only painting a picture of poor health for our kids translating into larger health care costs for our society. Regardless of political preference, it makes sense to revamp the NSLP.
Talk to your congressperson about getting the school lunches real fresh foods.