Federal

Institute of Medicine Calls for Upgrade to School Meals

By Katie Ash — October 26, 2009 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

School meals should include more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and less sodium, and schools should put a “caloric cap” on meals, an Institute of Medicine report recommended last week.

Commissioned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs the national school lunch and breakfast programs, the report aims to align school meals with the latest dietary guidelines for Americans, last updated in 2005.

“We’ve made great strides in improving the sophistication and accuracy that are used to assess and define children’s nutritional needs,” said Mary Kay Fox, a senior researcher at Mathematica Policy Research, a Princeton, N.J.-based firm that specializes in education, health-care, nutrition, and early-childhood issues. She was a committee member for the Institute of Medicine team that worked on the report.

The Washington-based institute is an independent, nonprofit organization that provides information to policymakers and the public about health and science policy.

In addition to increased amounts of fruits and vegetables at both breakfast and lunch, the report recommends that students have a wider variety to choose from, with an emphasis on green leafy vegetables, orange vegetables, and legumes, as opposed to starchy vegetables such as potatoes. No more than half the fruit that schools provide should be given in the form of juice, it says.

Whole Grains

While schools now are encouraged to incorporate whole grains into meals, the new recommendations would require that at least half the grains in each school meal be whole, as opposed to refined.

The committee recommends setting, for the first time, a calorie limit on school meals. Lunches should not exceed 650 calories for students in grades K-5, 700 for students in grades 6-8, and 850 for students in grades 9-12, the panel says. Breakfast should not exceed 500, 550, and 600 calories for those grade levels, respectively.

The report also focuses on cutting down the amount of sodium in each meal. The committee recommends gradually decreasing the sodium level from the current average of about 1,600 milligrams for a high school lunch to 740 milligrams over the next 10 years.

For middle school lunches, the amount of sodium should be capped at 710 milligrams, while elementary lunches should contain no more than 640 milligrams, the report says.

Sandy Spero, the supervisor of food services for the 135,000-student San Diego Unified School District, said cutting back on the amount of sodium in meals will be the most challenging of the recommendations.

“That one is probably the most concerning in terms of student acceptability,” she said, adding that the 10-year time frame “is good for giving the industry time to gear up and come up with those products.”

The report also calls for schools to serve 1 percent and skim milk only, as opposed to whole milk or 2 percent; those changes could help keep the amount of saturated fat in each meal below the 10 percent requirement.

The National School Lunch Program is available in 99 percent of public schools and served about 30.6 million children in 2007. The School Breakfast Program is available in 85 percent of public schools and served 10.1 million children in 2007.

Up for Reauthorization

Both programs are up for reauthorization by Congress this year, which makes the report timely, Ms. Fox said, although school districts could choose to begin incorporating the guidelines into meal planning immediately, without legislative or regulatory action.

While the recommendations are welcome, congressional support is needed to implement them, said Dora Rivas, the president of the School Nutrition Association, a 55,000-member professional organization of school meal providers, and the executive director of food and child nutrition services for the 160,000-student Dallas Independent School District.

“School nutrition programs, long underfunded and pressured by rising costs, will need more than just ‘building blocks’ to improve on our success,” she said in a statement. “Congress needs to provide the mortar through higher federal reimbursement rates for school meals.”

The report acknowledges that more nutritious meals could cost more, and says districts should not be expected to absorb the higher cost on their own. It calls for federal reimbursement to be increased to help schools reach the new recommendations. Money should also be set aside to help train food-service operators, the report suggests.

“These recommendations are very realistic and very thoughtful,” said Melanie Konarik, the director of child-nutrition services for the 36,000-student Spring Independent School District in Houston. “The issue will be whether we can afford it, because right now, school districts are struggling just to educate our children.”

A version of this article appeared in the October 28, 2009 edition of Education Week as Report Calls for Upgrade to School Meal Programs

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Personalized Learning Webinar
Expanding Teacher Impact: Scaling Personalized Learning Across Districts
Explore personalized learning strategies that transform classrooms and empower educators.
Content provided by DreamBox Learning
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Classroom Technology Webinar
How to Leverage Virtual Learning: Preparing Students for the Future
Hear from an expert panel how best to leverage virtual learning in your district to achieve your goals.
Content provided by Class
English-Language Learners Webinar AI and English Learners: What Teachers Need to Know
Explore the role of AI in multilingual education and its potential limitations.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Federal A Flood of Public Feedback Has Delayed a Title IX Change Covering Trans Athletes—Again
The Biden administration has not taken the final step to adopt long-awaited Title IX changes that would explicitly protect LGBTQ+ students.
5 min read
Isaya S. waves out the window of a Seattle Public Schools bus while participating in the annual Seattle Pride Parade on June 25, 2023, in Seattle.
Isaya S. waves out the window of a Seattle Public Schools bus while participating in the annual Seattle Pride Parade on June 25, 2023, in Seattle.
Lindsey Wasson/AP
Federal Is Funding for School Archery and Hunting Programs Really at Risk?
A U.S. Department of Education document led to confusion among school administrators about funding for archery and hunting programs.
4 min read
Students participate in a school archery program. A group of congressional lawmakers are working to amend federal law to ensure schools can purchase bow and arrows and other supplies for archery, sharp shooting, and hunting programs in schools.
Students participate in a school archery program. A group of congressional lawmakers are working to amend federal law to ensure schools can purchase bow and arrows and other supplies for school archery, sharp shooting, and hunting programs with federal education funds.
Courtesy of the National Archery in the Schools Program
Federal A Senate Committee Takes Up School Book Wars, Complete With Sharp Partisan Divisions
The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "book bans" included one Republican senator reading sexually explicit passages.
4 min read
Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois secretary of state, talks with Chairman Richard Durbin, D-Ill., right, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled "Book Bans: Examining How Censorship Limits Liberty and Literature," in Hart Building on Tuesday, September 12, 2023.
Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois secretary of state, talks with Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., right, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled "Book Bans: Examining How Censorship Limits Liberty and Literature," on Sept. 12, 2023.
Tom Williams/AP
Federal WATCH: 5 Key Takeaways on Education From the 1st GOP Presidential Debate
Among the highlights: take on the teachers' unions, scrap the Education Department, and boost reading.
8 min read
Republican presidential candidates, from left, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum stand on stage before a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by FOX News Channel on Aug. 23, 2023, in Milwaukee.
Republican presidential candidates, from left, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum stand on stage before a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by FOX News Channel on Aug. 23, 2023, in Milwaukee.
Morry Gash/AP