Title: School Lunch In America: Why It’s Unhealthy And How You Can Improve It
Headings: Why School Lunches in America Are Unhealthy and 10 Ways You Can Take Action to Improve Them
Why School Lunches in America Are Unhealthy and 10 Ways You Can Take Action to Improve Them
Summary
The State of School Lunches In America
But School Lunches Can Improve
Why Are School Lunches in America Unhealthy?
Funding
The USDA Foods Program
The School Milk Program
Unhealthy School Vendors
Why the Quality of School Lunches Matters for Students
1) Better Learning and Memory
2) Improved Concentration
3) Better Overall Health
4) Better Behavior and Fewer Problems
5) Better Academic Performance
6) Reducing Obesity
7) Better Habits for the Future
Federal Changes to Make American School Lunches Healthier
Problems Faced by School Lunch Programs
10 Ways You Can Help Improve School Food
Show your support for healthy school lunches in your community.
Be an advocate for healthier food in your school district.
Start a farm-to-school program.
Get a school garden in a school.
Start Meatless Mondays in a school.
Advocate for more plant-based options.
Help increase nutrition education in a school.
Advocate for lunchtimes that are long enough for students to get to eat.
Contact elected officials.
Students can take action, too.
What If School Lunches Around the World Encouraged Healthy Eating Behaviors?
Tell us in the comments:
What are your experiences with school lunch?
How will you take action?
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Content: If children are to learn to prefer and select healthy foods, they need early, positive, repeated experiences with those foods. ” Federal Changes to Make American School Lunches Healthier
In 2010, Congress adopted the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act — the first significant change to school meal nutrition in more than 15 years. If children are to learn to prefer and select healthy foods, they need early, positive, repeated experiences with those foods. The standards went into effect in 2012, with schools that met the new criteria receiving additional funding. And federal funding for school lunches increased — by about six cents per meal — for the first time in more than three decades. Schools are now required to: Offer fruit daily at breakfast and lunch
Offer vegetables daily at lunch
Increase the amount of whole grains
Require students to select either a fruit or vegetable with each meal
Reduce the sodium content of meals
Only offer fat-free or low-fat milk varieties
Create grade-specific limits on total calories
Remove trans fats
Researchers who examined 1.7 million meals in an urban Washington State school district found that the overall nutritional quality of meals increased by 29% after the standards took effect. Problems Faced by School Lunch Programs
But despite these improvements, many nutritional experts still find school lunches to be inadequate. Most meals aren’t prepared from scratch and don’t use fresh fruits and vegetables. Instead, foods are frozen or made elsewhere and then heated before serving.