School meals are the healthiest foods children eat, study finds

Researchers analyzed the diets of more than 21,000 children and 40,000 adults between 2003 and 2018 and found that the percentage of “foods consumed from a poor nutritional value by schools” decreased from 55% to 24% over the 15-year period, according to a study published Monday. in JAMA Network open.

Nutritional quality was measured using multiple scales, including United States Department of Agriculture Healthy Eating Index, which determines a person’s diet using nine adequate components (total fruits, whole fruits, total vegetables, vegetables or beans, whole grains, dairy products, total protein foods, seafood or plant protein and fatty acids) ) and four moderating components (refined grains, sodium, added sugars and saturated fat).

According to the USDA, the law has set new nutritional standards for meals in schools to ensure children have access to healthy meals. Some of the standards include offering fruits and vegetables to students every day and limiting the number of calories served based on children’s age.

“It shows you how a single policy adopted by Congress can dramatically improve the nutrition of millions of children,” Mozaffarian said.

In the results, researchers also found that the increase in healthy eating habits in schools also affected all ethnicities included in the study.

Most calories come from the grocery store

However, Mozaffarian noted that only 9% of the calories children eat come from schools. For adults and children, about two-thirds of the food consumed comes from the grocery store.

During the 15-year study, the amount of unhealthy food consumed by the grocery store decreased from 53% to 45%. For adults, the decrease was from 40% to 32%.

Mozaffarian said he sees grocery stores as the ‘biggest opportunity to improve dietary quality’ because most of the calories people consume are bought at these businesses.

One solution is real costing, he said, this is where food is priced based on social costs, including its cost to human health.

“Foods that actually make people healthier should be less food and more readily available,” Mozaffarian said. “Foods that make people sick and also harm the environment must be more expensive.”

If parents do not bring processed food into the home, it is a chance for children to eat it, said Marion Nestle, emerita professor Paulette Goddard, for nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, who does not was not involved in the study. .

Another strategy to reduce the amount of unhealthy food the grocery store consumes is to prevent companies from advertising unhealthy foods to children, Nestle said.

She said children were brainwashed into believing they were eating “baby food” such as cereals and fast food marketed to children. But in reality, Nestle said, there is no such thing as ‘child food’.

Nestle continues: “Children need to eat exactly what their parents do. And their parents need to eat healthy to the extent they can, so you do not have to buy special food for children.”

In addition, she recommended that grocery stores place healthier foods on a property, such as end aisles and shelves that are at eye level for adults and children.

“There’s no reason why children can not appreciate healthy food,” Nestle said, noting that nutritious food at school and at home can be delicious.