Page 8 - Today's Dietitian (March 2020)

Children’s Health

“We adamantly oppose this rule and
are particularly concerned about the fol-
lowing aspects of this proposal:

• Reducing the amount of fruit required
at breakfast for meals served out-
side the cafeteria. Schools could
now provide as little as half a cup of
fruit, a 50% reduction from current
requirements.
• Removing the requirement that schools
serve grains at breakfast. Schools
could now meet the standards by
serving meat and no grain product.
• Changing the vegetable subgroup
requirements so schools are no longer
required to serve as many red and
orange vegetables and legumes.
Instead, schools could serve more
potatoes and other starchy, often
fried, vegetables.
• Allowing entrées currently served as
part of the weekly reimbursable meal
program to be served on their own
nearly every day of the week, elimi-
nating the requirement that these
items meet the strong à la carte stan-
dards for individual food items. While
entrées and side dishes sold as part of
the reimbursable meal are required
to meet the school meal nutrition
standards, these standards are aver-
aged across the weekly menu. This
gives schools the flexibility to occa-
sionally serve a food that does not
meet nutrition standards on its own
but is balanced by healthier sides.
If these foods are allowed to be sold
AHA, RDs Weigh In on New Proposed more frequently in à la carte, there is
no requirement that children select
Rule for School Meal Standards a balanced meal. Children could, for
example, purchase three slices of
T he American Heart Association, the world’s leading voluntary organiza- purchasing a nutritionally balanced,
pizza in the à la carte line instead of
reimbursable lunch that contains a
tion focused on heart and brain health, recently issued the following state-
ment in response to USDA’s proposed rule “Simplifying Meal Service and
slice of pizza, salad, and fruit.
Monitoring Requirements in the National School Lunch and School Break-
fast Programs (NSLP/SBP)”: “While the USDA claims these changes
“We are extremely disappointed that the USDA is once again rolling back nutrition are necessary to mitigate food waste,
standards in our schools. First, the Trump Administration weakened requirements studies show that food waste has either
for sodium and whole grains, and now these proposed changes would allow schools remained the same or decreased since
to serve fewer fruits and grains, a smaller variety of vegetables, and less healthful the updated school nutrition standards.
entrées that aren’t part of a balanced meal. These changes are unnecessary and put There are several other effective strat-
children’s health at risk. egies to reduce food waste in schools,
“Since school nutrition standards were updated in 2012, students have been eating such as giving students more time to eat,
healthier foods at schools. More than 99% of participating schools meet the current putting recess before lunch, marketing
standards, and data from the USDA show that the healthiest meals have the highest healthful foods to kids, and involving stu-
participation rates. Instead of building on this success, the proposed rule would put dents in meal planning, none of which
less healthful food on children’s plates. jeopardizes the health of our children.

8 TODAY’S DIETITIAN • MARCH 2020