The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 and its Effects on School Food Service Systems. By Rachel Crawford

Transcription

1 No. 12 The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 and its Effects on School Food Service Systems By Rachel Crawford February 11, 2013 NDFS 445 0

2 INTRODUCTION An estimated 95,000 schools receive funding for their food service operations from the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. These federally-funded programs give financial reimbursement to school food service systems for free and reduced meals given to qualifying students based on the school s compliance to the latest food regulations (1). Concerns over childhood obesity have led to a series of restrictions that school food service systems must operate within to theoretically achieve the maximum nutrition for the federal capital invested. New guidelines released in the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 and subsequent revisions have made the first change in school meals in 15 years (2). This act, which impacts the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program, has changed the requirements for individual nutrients and food groups in general and has an enormous impact on school food service directors who struggle with rigid grain requirements, rigid calorie ranges, and increased fruit and vegetable requirements. These difficult adjustments have led to confusion and frustration on the part of food service directors, decreased acceptability of meals to students, increased meal prices, and an overall decrease in participation. CHANGES TO THE REQUIREMENTS Individual Nutrients The new act focuses on a few nutrients including calories, sodium, saturated fat, and trans fat. Calorie content is under particular scrutiny due to childhood obesity. The Healthy Hunger- Free Kids Act is the first to divide calorie requirements by grade level and also gives a minimum and a maximum caloric range. Grades K-5 are allowed calories for breakfast and calories for lunch while grades 6-8 are allowed calories for breakfast and calories for lunch and grades 9-12 are allowed calories for breakfast and

3 calories for lunch. Sodium has similarly been divided into different amounts per meal by grade level. Breakfasts for grades K-5 must contain less than 430 mg while less than 640 mg is allowed for lunch. Grades 6-9 are allowed less than 470 mg of sodium for breakfast and less than 710 mg for lunch and grades 9-12 are allowed less than 500 mg of sodium for breakfast and less than 740 mg for lunch (3). Saturated fat has been restricted to less than ten percent of caloric intake in all meals and in all grade levels. Finally, nutrition labels or manufacturer specifications must indicate zero grams of trans fat per serving. Major Food Groups The new act also focuses on changing major food groups. Fruit amounts have been set to 1 cup for breakfast for all grades, ½ cup of fruit for lunch for grades K-8, and 1 cup for lunch for grades 9-12 (3). The new regulations do allow for vegetables to be used in place of all or part of the fruit component for breakfast as long as the vegetables are dark green, red or orange, beans or peas, or other vegetable subgroups. Starchy vegetables may be substituted only after requirements are met for non-starchy vegetables. In addition to this, no more than half of the permeal fruit component can come from fruit juice (4). Vegetable requirements have also increased. Although they are not required for breakfast, specific amounts must be achieved every week for lunch (3). For grades K-8, schools must offer ¾ cup of vegetables a day while grades 9-12 must be offered 1 cup per day (4). Vegetables have been divided by groups- dark green, red/orange, beans/peas, starch, and other vegetables, all have differing requirements (2). For example, ¾ cup of red or orange vegetables must be offered a week to grades K-8 and 1 ¼ cup to grades 9-12 (4). Grain requirements have both a minimum and a maximum for the first time in history (5). Ranges for grades K-8 are 8-9 ounces a week or 1 ounce a meal minimum for lunch with 7-10 ounces a week or 1 ounce a meal for breakfast. Grades 9-12 are allowed ounces a week 2

4 with 2 ounces a meal for lunch and 9-10 ounces a week or 1 ounce a meal for breakfast. In addition to this, half of grain products must be whole-grain in the school year and all products must be whole-grain by the school year (4). Meats and meat alternates are not required for breakfast but are required in differing amounts per grade level for lunch. Grades K-8 must be offered a minimum of 1 ounce of meat or meat alternatives for lunch while grades 9-12 must be offered 2 ounces for lunch. Finally, milk requirements are set to 1 cup a meal for both breakfast and lunch for all grades (3). DIFFICULT ADJUSTMENTS Adjusting for Grain Requirements One of the new requirements food service directors are struggling with the most are the minimum and maximum ranges set for grains. A survey done comparing the most irritating parts of the new regulations revealed that this was the hardest part for the directors to adjust to (6). The biggest complaint in this area is that it is very hard to meet daily minimums without going over weekly maximums. To meet new regulations, sandwiches can no longer be served every day and bread cannot be served with dishes that traditionally include bread, such as Italian pasta. Directors also complain that the new regulations are undoing the work they have done to teach children that whole grains are healthy. One school district can no longer serve their healthy options of quinoa, barley, and brown rice salads and must cut these foods that are high in fiber and protein (5). Thankfully, this part of the regulations has actually been repealed in part by the USDA. Grain maximums are no longer enforced as of the school year but it is unclear as to whether this will continue in the future (7). One positive effect of new regulations is the increase in whole-grain products on the menu. More than 80% of school districts surveyed in a 3

5 participation article offer whole-grain pastas, rice, or cereals and more than 92% of schools serve pizza, a very popular menu item, on whole-grain crust (8). Adjusting for Calorie Requirements Calorie requirements are the second most vexing part of the new regulations. Although it seems to be easier for school districts with fewer than 100,000 students than it is for school districts with greater than 100,000 students, food service directors criticize that the regulations overcorrect to adjust to the 20% of students who are obese or overweight and do not provide enough calories for the 80% that are of normal weight (6, 9). School food service directors are struggling to get enough calories in the meals due to restrictions on grains and other items. Some schools have cut out so many calories to meet grain restrictions or dessert restrictions that they have had to switch back to full-fat dressing to increase calories or add caramel to apples because other changes such as increasing grains or desserts cannot be made while staying in the other nutrient ranges (5). Adjusting for Fruit and Vegetable Requirements Fruit and vegetable requirements are giving food service directors headaches, not so much because adding fruits and vegetables to the meals is hard but because of student and teacher reactions to the increased amounts. Only 20% of all school districts report that increasing the serving size of fruits and vegetables is challenging (6). However, once the fruits and vegetables are on the students plates, difficulties arise. Of all foods, fruits and vegetables are now being thrown away more than ever before. The simple nature of the forced taking of the fruits and vegetables may be the root cause of this increased waste. Clark County School District introduced a program offering a wide variety of fresh fruits every day and the consumption of 4

6 fresh fruit skyrocketed. The director of this school system says that now that the consumption is mandatory, children feel it is not their choice and are less likely to respond positively to fruits and vegetables on their trays. Teachers also complain about this increase because of the buildup of fruits and vegetables in their trashcans (5). RECEPTION AND IMPACT Reception by Food Service Directors Food service directors are still trying to truly understand what the new regulations are and how to implement them before the school year begins. One of the major complaints food service directors have is that the regulations were finalized a few months before school started, leaving the directors scrambling to comply with regulations last minute by retraining staff, changing suppliers and products, and rewriting menus (5). The new regulations are quite complicated and most directors are still struggling to understand them (6). It should be noted that not all food service directors seem to struggle with the new regulations. Food service director David Binkle says his school was already meeting most requirements and so only minor changes needed to be made (4). Clearly, the reaction to the legislation is unique to the school and the existing program. Food service directors also do not like that so much of the blame of the rising childhood obesity epidemic is being placed at their feet. Paul King argues that only about one-third of all meals children consume throughout the year are provided by the school, raising the concern that focusing so hard on school lunches may not be the best way to curb childhood obesity (9). Food service directors are also frustrated when parents seemingly undermine their efforts (5). For example, when parents come to eat with their children at school, they often bring pizza, McDonalds and other fast food items, discouraging cooking staff and food service directors (5). 5

7 Decreased Acceptability of Meals to Students Increased regulations have also led to a general decreased acceptability of meals to students. Many food service directors are getting complaints that the children are not getting enough to eat. In fact, a group of high school athletes made a YouTube clip called We Are Hungry that complains that they are not served enough food to provide adequate energy throughout their day and athletic practices; it currently has over a million views (5). A study also reveals 47% of students say they are still hungry after they have consumed the meals provided. A plate waste study of 236 students revealed that 100 threw the fruit and vegetable provided in the trash and another study reveals that 70% of students are throwing away fruits and vegetables more than in the past. Overall, 62% of students report that they are unhappy with changes compared to 12% that say they are pleased and 26% that have not voiced an opinion one way or another. This is of concern to food service directors as they must take into account the energy levels of the students and how the decreased acceptability will impact participation in their programs (6). Increased Prices A concern that directly impacts food service directors is the increasing prices resulting from lack of funding. Approximately 90% of districts anticipate an increase in food costs in the coming year and 67% of these districts anticipate that federal reimbursement will not cover this increased cost (8). Nearly 64% of respondents have raised lunch prices for some schools for the school year with an increase of 11 cents on average. Most food service directors agree that this is primarily because the changes are largely unfunded. Although the federal 6

8 reimbursement for meals will increase 7 cents per meal, costs are increasing up to 43 cents per meal in some areas, forcing food service directors to increase meal prices (10). Decreased Participation These factors combined have led to decreased satisfaction with school-offered meals so much so that 55% of school districts report a decrease in participation (6). This is of great concern to food service directors because not only are funds decreasing from paid lunches, leading to more funding shortages, but children now bring food from home which may or may not be as healthy as the lunches and breakfasts served at school. On the positive side, 71% of school districts have reported an increase in free and reduced-price meal participation. The new regulations increased the students who qualified for free and reduced meals by 1.6 times. This is good news for food service directors because more meals can now be reimbursed by the federal government (11). However, the overall participation has still decreased, meaning that less children overall are getting the now more-nutritious meals that the schools provide. CONCLUSION Although no one questions that the federal government s heart was in the right place, food service directors are struggling with strict grain requirements, strict calorie ranges, and increased fruit and vegetable requirements. Some directors appear to be adjusting well to the regulations but the majority are having difficulty. Challenges associated with the new requirements have led to a decreased acceptability of meals to students, increased prices, and decreased participation by all but those who qualify for free and reduced meals. Food service directors must find a way to face these challenges if they are to continue offering nutritious and affordable meals to students. 7

9 REFERENCES (1) Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education. Nutrition, Health and Safety: National School Lunch Program. Available at: Accessed February 11, (2) United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service. Nutrition Standards for School Meals. Available at: Accessed February 11, (3) United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service. Final Rule Nutrition Standards in the National School and School Breakfast Programs. Available at: Accessed February 11, (4) Schilling B. School lunch makeover. Foodserv Dir. 2012;25(3): (5) King P. Schools new balancing act. Foodserv Dir. 2012;25(11): (6) School districts struggle with elements of new meal regs. Foodserv Dir. 2013;26(2):8-14. (7) USDA relaxes school regs. Foodserv Dir. 2013;26(1):1. (8) Survey: schools focus on meeting new meal regs. Foodserv Dir. 2012;25(9):1. (9) King P. Building Rome in a day. Foodserv Dir. 2012;25(10):23. (10) Schilling B. Legislation health. Foodserv Dir. 2011;24(10): (11) USDA program helps schools feed more students for free. Foodserv Dir. 2012;25(4):6. 8