Release No. 0010.11
Contact:
USDA Office of Communications (202) 720-4623
USDA Unveils Critical Upgrades to Nutritional Standards for School Meals
Proposed Changes Will Improve the Health and Wellbeing of Children Nationwide and Help Address Childhood Obesity Crisis
WASHINGTON, Jan. 13, 2010 —The U.S. Department of Agriculture today published a proposed rule to update the nutrition standards for meals served through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 13, 2010. The new proposed meal requirements will raise standards for the first time in fifteen years and will make critical changes to school meals and help improve the health and nutrition of nearly 32 million kids that participate in school meal programs every school day, an important component of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative to solve the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation.
“The United States is facing an obesity epidemic and the crisis of poor diets threatens the future of our children – and our nation,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “With many children consuming as many as half their daily calories at school, strengthening nutritional standards is an important step in the Obama administration’s effort to combat childhood obesity and improve the health and wellbeing of all our kids.”
Before/After Elementary School Lunch Menu
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