USDA Issues Mandate For Healthier School Lunches
January 14th, 2011 - 7:55 pm ICT by GDBy Ranjan Bhaduri
Jan 14, (THAINDIAN NEWS) In its bid to grapple with the menace of childhood obesity in United States which is haunting a majority of children in the country, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has set the parameters for preparing school lunches. This is a first-of-its-kind guideline in last 15 years. To make the new lunch menu healthier for school children, the USDA has recommended reduction in salt and fat and addition of more vegetable and fruit. Tom Vilsack, the USDA Secretary said that it is possibly the first time that USDA is “proposing significant improvements to the nutritional quality of the meals served to children” in U.S. It is a fact that one third of the school kids in country are overweight to an extent.
USDA Secretary also said that after the changes incorporated in school meals, the amount of calorie will be slashed almost by half and the school kids will be benefited. Apart from reducing fat, the new meal is likely to have more non-fat milk and whole grain. French-fries will not be given every day to the kids from now onwards. By preventing obesity, the nation will also be able to cut down on the health care expense in the coming days, say the health experts. The new school meal guidelines will affect close to 32 million children, it has been reported. This change follows the signing of the child nutrition bill by U.S. President Barack Obama.
However, it may take some years before the new rules are implemented in schools across U.S. Health experts have welcomed the move saying it should have been implemented earlier.
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