Stricter Guidelines for Snacks in Schools- Is it Enough?

July 1, 2014- that is the deadline!  As part of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's new legislation "Smart Snacks in Schools", snacks offered in schools will now be limited in fat, salt and sugar and portion size will be restricted.  This legislation will impact about 50 million students and over 100,000 schools nationwide that participate in the federal school lunch program.  Proponents are hoping that these changes will help address the staggering rate of childhood obesity and generally improve our children's diets.  Some examples of the changes that will be mandated are:

• Vending machine food items will have to be under 200 calories (less than an average candy bar)
• Drinks will have to be under 60 calories/12oz. (less than most sodas)
• Low-fat and fat-free milk, 100% fruit and vegetable juice and no-calorie flavored water will be allowed 
• Water must be available for free
• All snack foods must have 50% whole grain, contain fruits, vegetables, dairy or protein, or contain at least 10% of the daily value of calcium, potassium, Vitamin D or dietary fiber

Sad but typical snacks offered at schools across our country!

I could write about all the loopholes in this legislation and why this isn't enough, but as I know from working within the restrictions of the government, legislation is usually somewhat lagging behind our knowledge and the current research.  If our education system put in 1/4 of the amount of time, energy and focus on our children's health and nutrition as they did on the futile standardized tests (such as the FCAT's in Florida) we may not be in such a dire situation.  Well, so it goes!  This legislation is the first significant revamping of school snacks in over 30 years.  Although we have a long way to go towards improving our children's nutrition in this country, this is definitely a huge step in the right direction.  Let's applaud the movement towards improvement!

Nutritional makeover :)

Many parents take it upon themselves to send their children snacks from home.  This will still be an option and a good one.  Unfortunately, this tactic usually doesn't work as well for older children as they will buy their own snacks when given a choice.  It comes back (again) to nutrition education and teaching self-empowerment.  Our goal as parents is to give our children the tools needed to navigate their own way in this world.  Making "good" food choices is something we as adults continuously struggle with daily in this challenging food environment.  This new legislation will hopefully make it a little easier for our children to make the right choices.  Although let's remember, the fight is not over:) 

What are your thoughts on the legislation?  How much should we as parents rely on our schools to control what our children eat? 

For more information and great ideas for school snacks, please visit:

Healthy School Snacks ~ Center for Science in the Public Interest

http://cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy/healthy_school_snacks.html