Snack Food Calories Restricted
Jessica Donze Black, director of the Kids' Safe and Healthful Foods Project, speaks with Education Week about new rules to restrict calories in snack foods and beverages sold in schools.
More infoWASHINGTON – More than three out of four American voters—78 percent—believe that schools should be required to meet higher nutrition standards for all foods they serve or sell to students, and 61 percent support providing schools with more funding to meet those standards, according to a new poll conducted by the bipartisan team of Hart Research and American Viewpoint and commissioned by the Kids' Safe and Healthful Foods Project.
Results from the poll include:
- A substantial majority of voters—61 percent—support an increase in school nutrition program funding of 1 percent annually, or about $135 million. Forty-three percent are strongly in favor.
- Support is strong among adults who do not have school-aged children and also among parents whose children are in school.
- Seventy-six percent of self-identified Democrats support increased funding, as do 60 percent of self-identified Independents and 43 percent of self-identified Republicans.
All voters
 | 43% Strongly Favor |
| 18% Somewhat Favor | |
| 17% Neutral/Not Sure | |
| 13% Strongly Opposed | |
| 9% Somewhat Oppose |
Public School Parents
 | 38% Strongly Favor |
| 19% Somewhat Favor | |
| 17% Neutral/Not Sure | |
| 16% Strongly Opposed | |
| 10% Somewhat Oppose |
- A majority of voters support helping schools pay for more nutritious food; providing school cafeteria workers with more training to help them cook safe and healthier meals; and assisting schools pay for new cafeteria equipment that will help workers prepare healthier meals.
 | Helping schools pay for more nutritious food: fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grain bread |
 | Providing training for school cafeteria workers that will teach them how to cook healthier meals |
 | Helping schools pay for new cafeteria equipment that will help workers prepare healthier meals |
- A sizable majority of voters say schools should be required to make all foods served and sold in cafeteria lunch lines meet higher nutrition standards; and that unhealthy snacks in school vending machines should be replaced with healthy ones.
 | Requiring that candy, soda, chips and other snacks like these that are sold in school vending machines be replaced with options such as water, milk, juice and snacks such as carrots and yogurt. |
 | Requiring that ALL foods sold in cafeteria lunch lines — even those that are not part of the official national school meals program — meet higher nutrition standards. |
Experts say school meals play a key role in young people's health, as many kids consume more than half of their daily calories at school. According to government data, more than half of children (56 percent) eat at least one school-provided meal every day, and many rely on their school cafeteria for both breakfast and lunch. Yet the current nutrition standards for these meals were last updated more than 15 years ago and do not reflect recent nutrition science, changes in children's eating habits or current public health concerns.
The support for improving school meals comes at a critical time. More than 23 million American children and adolescents—nearly one in three—are overweight or obese, which places them at increased risk for long-term health problems such as heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Results from the new poll show that half of voters are "very concerned" about the state of children's health.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has proposed adding more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat and nonfat milk to school meals, while limiting calories and reducing the amount of unhealthy fats and sodium.
It's crucial for those who support these efforts to submit comments directly to USDA before April 13 when the public comment period will close.
- Date added:
- Apr 11, 2011
- Project:
- Kids' Safe and Healthful Foods Project
- Topic:
- School Food
Related Resources
''New regulations promote healthier snack foods in schools''
Jessica Donze Black speaks with Online Athens about the USDA's decision to set nutrition standards on school snack foods and beverages.
More infoNew Standards for School Vending Machines Provide More Than Just Healthy Snacks
While it might take time before we can evaluate the impact of the new standards, which won’t take effect until September 2014, we can look at what we already know to assess them in comparison to the current status quo. The first hint of the new regulation’s potential comes from the Pew Charitable Trusts Kids’ Safe and Healthful Foods Project, showing that children and teens gained less weight over three years if they lived in a state with strong policies on school snacks than if they lived in a state without such standards.
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The Pew Charitable Trusts applauds Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) for her efforts to strengthen food safety protections under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, and provide grant funding to help school cafeterias across the nation upgrade their equipment to serve healthy, appealing meals to millions of school children. Funding for both programs was included in a larger bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday.
More info''What the New USDA Rules for Healthier School Snacks Mean for Schools''
Jessica Donze Black, director of the Kids' Safe and Healthful Foods project, discusses the USDA's decision to finalize interim rules for snack foods and beverages sold in schools.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture has set new nutrition standards for food sold as snacks in schools, giving fruit and vegetable shippers opportunities for vending machines and snack bars. After considering nearly 250,000 comments, the agency on June 27 published the regulation, called “Smart Snacks in Schools,” also known as the “competitive snacks” rule, for junk food that competes with healthier lunch menus.
More info''Minn. School’s Adjust To USDA Lunch Guidelines''
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More info“Brownies Bounced From Cafeterias in Healthier Eating Push”
"Children consume as many as half their daily calories in school, where they spend more time than any location except their homes, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts, which underwrites food safety programs. Studies show snacks add 112 calories to the average elementary-school student’s daily diet, and those who live in states with strong snack policies gain less weight over three years than those without regulations."
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Jessica Donze Black, director of the Kids’ Safe and Healthful Foods Project, speaks to the Washington Post about the USDA's decision to finalize interim rules for snack foods and beverages sold in schools.
More info''Rules for School Vending Machines, Snacks Unveiled''
Education Week interviews Jessica Donze Black, director of the Kids' Safe and Healthful Foods Project about the USDA's decision to finalize interim rules on snack foods and beverages sold in schools.
More infoKids’ Safe and Healthful Foods Project Applauds USDA for Finalizing Snack Standards for Schools
Jessica Donze Black, director of the Kids’ Safe and Healthful Foods Project, issued the following statement regarding the interim final rule by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, setting nutrition standards for snack foods and beverages sold in U.S. schools.More info
Infographic Urges USDA to Set National Standards for School Snacks
Although some states and districts have created standards for what can be sold as snacks and beverages in schools, the USDA hasn’t updated national guidelines in over 30 years. An infographic recently released by the Kids’ Safe and Healthful Foods Project summarizes research that supports the need for national nutrition standards for snack foods and beverages sold in schools.
More infoSnack Facts:
View this infographic by Pew's Kids' Safe and Healthful Foods Project to learn more facts about school snacks. More info''2 thumbs up for LBI food''
''While some students look down on food served in school cafeterias, Zoe Deakyne, a sixth-grader at Long Beach Island Elementary School, enjoys getting her lunch there.''
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