It’s not just me yelping about school lunches. A panel from the Institute of Medicine is making some pretty strong – and specific – recommendations for change according to an article in the Los Angeles Times by Mary MacVean. The panel calls for calorie limits, increasing leafy greens, fruit (instead of fruit juice), legumes, and vegetables, and for replacing refined grains with whole grains. The current USDA guidelines haven’t been revised since 1995, pre- the ubiquity of both computer screens and carbonated drinks.
Additionally, the panel recommends low fat or skim milk instead of sodas.* It also calls for a big reduction in sodium content in lunches. According to the article, the typical high school lunch has about 1,600 milligrams of sodium while the panel recommends no more than 740 mg. This jacked-up sodium may in part be attributable to the processed and pre-packaged food. (Almost all food, even fresh vegetables, has some sodium.). The American Heart Association recommends that adults eat less than 2300mg of sodium per day, and that African Americans, middle-aged and older adults and people with high blood pressure consume less than 1,500 mg/day.
The panel recommends the changes take place over a ten-year span, in part, I assume, to accustom kids and their parents to new ways of eating since palettes have become so accustomed to big doses of salt and sugar and fat. It is also a nod to the fact that these changes are going to cost more. Change is rarely easy, but this one is worth it.
For a look at what Baltimore is doing, check out
https://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=8875663
*There’s currently an ad on TV, with a slim ‘mother’ pleading for us to vote against the proposed tax on sodas and fruit drinks. Don’t buy in. Sodas and fruit drinks are a big contributor to obesity, so let’s lay on the tax!
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