School Lunchroom Fare Becoming Leaner

School lunches are a lot more Spartan than older Americans remember, but many of the nation’s policymakers and health authorities say these leaner meals are helping to deflate ballooning rates of obesity among America’s children.

Among the most popular items purged from school menus: high-fat pizza, fried chicken nuggets, French fries and, in the case of one Alabama school, Milo’s sweet tea, according to an article published Sept. 5 in the New York Times.

“There have been federal guidelines in place for some time now to promote nutritious meals with more fruits and vegetables and that are lower in fat,” says Dr. Robert Keith, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System nutrition specialist and Auburn University professor of nutrition and food science.

But some state governments and individual school systems are going the extra mile, he says — in some cases, banishing fried foods entirely from school menus, prohibiting cupcakes at birthday parties, and ending school bake sales.

Pressure also has been brought to bear on food vending companies, which, in the view of many nutrition and health experts, constitute a fifth column in many schools.

“A lot of those machines already have gone to water and other beverages that are lower in calories, such as sports drinks,” Keith says, adding that efforts also are under way in many states and local school districts to limit the calories in vending machine food.

In many cases, limits are placed at about 100 calories for each food item.

One trend Keith finds especially interesting is how multifaceted this effort has become.

“This push for change is coming from many different directions — from the state, from individual school districts, from parents, and from individuals and groups,” Keith says. “There’s really a hodgepodge of people involved in this effort.”

Keith views this largely as a good thing because as more localities, individuals and groups become involved, the more school districts will borrow from among the best ideas.

“You’ve got a lot of different experiments going on, and in the end, lots of people likely will end up with stronger programs as a result.”

Even so, Keith admits that he worries sometimes that many school districts, in their zeal to police every aspect of lunchroom menus and other school-related fare may lose sight of the bigger picture. For example, instead of weighing the merits of popsicles and jellybeans versus nutty chocolate bars, Keith says people should concentrate more on calories.

“We certainly want our diets to be more nutritious, but the overriding reason for the changes in federal policies and in school food policy is to reduce caloric intake,” he says.

“How many calories does it have? That’s really the thing that we should be looking at.”

Keith also fears that some overzealous school districts also risk taking the joy out of eating entirely — case in point, the ban on cupcakes at classroom birthday celebrations.

“It’s okay to have cupcakes, at least from time to time,” he says. “There’s more to eating than simply nutrition. There are also social conditions to consider and that shouldn’t be entirely taken away.

“Nobody who eats a few cupcakes a year is going to become obese.”

Posted by Jim Langcuster at September 12, 2007 01:54 PM