New School Meal Standards Increase Fruit, Vegetable Consumption

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New School Meal Standards Increase Fruit, Vegetable Consumption

– Reported, March 06, 2014

A new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) revealed schools have increased fruit and vegetable consumption, due to new 2012 federal standards requiring schools to offer healthier meals.

For the study, researchers tracked food that students from four low-income schools wasted before and after the new standards went into effect. They found the new standards did not result in increased food waste. Also, fruit selection increased by 23 percent and vegetable consumption increased by 16.2 percent. The study is the first to examine school food consumption both before and after the standards went into effect

“There is a push from some organizations and lawmakers to weaken the new standards,” lead author Juliana Cohen, at the Department of Nutrition at HSPH, was quoted as saying. “We hope the findings, which show that students are consuming more fruits and vegetables, will discourage those efforts.”
 

SOURCE: American Journal of Preventive Medicine, February 2014