Abstract
Schools are recognized as venues for population-based health promotion and chronic disease prevention initiatives targeting children, and the school food environment is a central component. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 utilized research-based findings and expert recommendations to significantly improve school lunch standards in the kindergarten to twelfth grade (K-12) setting to enhance the nutritional intake and ultimately the health of children. The new guidelines include increasing the availability of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables; requiring children to select a fruit or vegetable daily; and restricting serving sizes. There is currently no evidence that the revised standards have increased school lunch plate waste. However, there is evidence that children are consuming more healthful foods. The Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) supports retaining current school lunch standards set by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. SBM also supports increasing the evidence-based by evaluating the implementation and impact of the school lunch revisions.
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Acknowledgments
This manuscript was supported by the National Cancer Institute under award number R25CA057699. JB was supported by the National Cancer Institute. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge the expert review provided by the Society of Behavioral Medicine’s Health Policy Committee, Health Policy Council, and the Obesity and Eating Disorders Special Interest Group.
Compliance with ethical standards
All procedures were conducted in accordance with ethical standards.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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Implications
Practice: Schools should provide lunches to children in compliance with the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 and should incorporate nutrition education, promote consumption of more healthful foods, and create cafeteria environments that facilitate healthful eating.
Policy: SBM recommends retaining current school lunch standards and opposes weakening these standards given the potential impact on the population-level health of American children.
Research: Further research will require evaluating the implementation and longer-term impact of the 2010 school lunch revisions.
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Buscemi, J., Odoms-Young, A., Yaroch, A.L. et al. Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) position statement: SBM supports retaining healthy school lunch policies. Behav. Med. Pract. Policy Res. 5, 357–359 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-015-0318-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-015-0318-z