Published On: January 9th, 2016|

Upvoted – Gabrielle Canon

“Five years ago, President Obama signed the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) increasing standards on what can be served in schools…The program, which required schools to serve meals more closely aligned with the (recently updated) Dietary Guidelines, enacted calorie restrictions and portion-size recommendations, put limits on trans-fats, and increased the amount of produce and whole grains included at lunchtime. In a longitudinal study published in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers evaluated around 1.7 million school meals served at six schools between 2011 and 2014. Collecting data 16 months prior to implementation of HHFKA and 15 months after, they looked at calories in each meal along with six key nutrients—calcium, vitamin C, vitamin A, iron, fiber, and protein—and found HHFKA helped cause a 17 percentage point bump in nutrition.”(more)