Source:  Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 12/3/09

USDA's Economic Research Service has released a study on ways to reduce the total fat content of school lunches, part of the agency's efforts to improve the National School Lunch Program as the Child Nutrition Act comes before Congress for reauthorization.

The report, "Meeting Total Fat Requirements for School Lunches," was prompted by an earlier study that showed that while most schools met requirements for vitamins, protein, calcium and iron content, only 20 percent serve lunches that met the USDA standard for total fat (constituting 30 percent or less of the calories). That study was based on a survey of 397 schools in spring 2005.

School policies and practices linked to lower fat lunches include promotion of fresh fruits and vegetables or locally grown foods, offering low-fat dairy products and eliminating vending machines in middle and high schools. The report also recommends adopting a "nutrient content" or "enhanced food-based" meal planning method, in which meals are planned not around types of foods — such as "meat" and "starch" and "vegetable" — but instead around providing a certain amount of nutrition, which may be contained in any type of food that meets the requirements.

"A number of recent studies indicate that one-third of all children between the ages of 6 and 19 are overweight or obese, and we must take immediate steps to improve the nutritional quality of school meals and the health of the school environment," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Read the full ERS study here. 

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