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Child Nutrition Programs

In 2017, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued an Interim Final Rule entitled “Child Nutrition Programs: Flexibilities for Milk, Whole Grains, and Sodium Requirements.”

This rule provided Child Nutrition Program operators with flexibility regarding three main program components:

Milk

Child Nutrition Programs can offer flavored, low fat (1% fat) milk. Prior to this rule, only fat-free or low-fat milk could be offered, and flavored milk could only be fat-free. This change allows for low-fat, flavored milk.

Schools do not have to provide proof of a reduction in milk intake or increase in wasted milk, to implement this option.

Grains

The rule extended an option to include grains that are not grain-rich in their weekly menu for the National School Lunch (NSL) and National School Breakfast (NSB) programs.

The initial requirement (2014-2015) was that all grains in the menu needed to be whole grains (at least 50% whole grains, with the rest of the product enriched). Because implementing this required was difficult, state agencies could provide exceptions to schools that requested them based on demonstrated hardship in procuring or preparing specific products that met criteria and were acceptable to students.

The final rule in 2017 extended the exceptions to schools until the 2018-2019 school year. State agencies must review and approve requests for exceptions from schools. Hardship in meeting the requirement must be documented and can be based on such things as lack of availability in the market, increase in plate waste, and lack of student acceptability.

Sodium

Retaining sodium Target 1. Decreases in the sodium content of school meals were to be achieved over 10 years, with Target 1 sodium level to start in 2014-2015, Target 2 to start in 2017-2018, and Target 3 to be achieved in 2022-2023.

Prior to this final rule, the USDA had approved retaining sodium level at Target 1 through 2017-2018. With this final rule, Target 1 was retained through the end of the 2018-2019 school year.

The flexibilities in this final rule are optional, allowing states and communities to serve their population in the best way. States and program operators may choose to use all, some, or none of the flexibilities in their schools.

Source: Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. (2017). Child nutrition programs: flexibilities for milk, whole grains, and sodium requirement s7 CFR parts 2010, 215, 220 and 226. Federal Register, 82 (229).

Peer Response

Instructions:

· Respond to at least 3 of your peers.

· Each response should be a minimum of 150 words.

· Use scholarly supporting evidence.

Response one:

Over the past few years, the changes made by the USDA to the federal school nutrition program will have a positive impact. The changes aim to ensure that children who live in the poverty line acquire healthy and balanced diet meals. Healthy eating habits are essential to children in various ways. Children require healthy foods for growth; through the changes made, there is no doubt that the children will undergo the essential growth and development stages.

Children are very vulnerable to diseases and infections due to their weak immune systems. Healthy eating habits boost their immune system, ensuring they are not infected (Ralston et al., 2017). Moreover, the USDA changes will ensure that kids are provided with the nutrients they require. The changes were made to strategically supply the kids with essential nutrients to help them in their growth and development.

The flexibility of the USDA regulations plays a crucial role in schools. It is through the flexibility of the regulations that schools can avoid food waste. Some of the USDA requirements are not liked by the students, which leads to the schools wasting a lot of food. Moreover, the flexibility provides the schools with more options to consider. The flexibility allows exceptions in some schools, allowing them to consider other options that are not on the requirements. Flexibility also plays a crucial role in serving appetizing and healthy meals in schools.

 Sticking to rules, especially in meals, is not good as it limits the choices to be taken. However, through USDA regulations’ flexibility, schools can serve food according to the students’ preferences. The flexibility of the rules will also allow schools to offer more vegetables while maintaining veggies in each meal. The schools will be able to customize the meal patterns to serve children in different grades. The regulations’ flexibility will enable the schools to offer a more customized school breakfast through adjusting fruit servings (Lusk, 2018). The schools will also shift to a performance-focused review process.

Nurses should educate their patients and the public on the importance of healthy eating habits. Most children suffer from malnutrition which is mainly caused by their parents’ lack of knowledge. Nurses should also take a step further by participating in the child nutrition programs to educate teachers and school workers on the essence of nutrients provided by USDA requirements. Nurses should advocate for the health and well-being of patients and should support child nutrition programs by giving ideas on what rules the USDA should implement in schools to ensure the children eat healthy meals.

                                                References

https://www.fns.usda.gov/pressrelease/usda-012920
 (Links to an external site.)

Lusk, J. L. (2018). How does the USDA help hungry families?. Dept. Agr Econ. Policy Brief Issue PAEPB-2018_3, Purdue University, March.

Ralston, K., Treen, K., Coleman-Jensen, A., & Guthrie, J. (2017). Children’s food security and USDA child nutrition programs (No. 1476-2017-2076).

Response two:

I believe that the changes the USDA has made over the past few years due to the Heathy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 have been extremely positive. It provides meals to children who could not normally afford healthy foods. According to the USDA website, under the standards, kids are eating 16% more vegetables and 23% more fruit at lunch. Children now have more nutritious food options such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and less sugar, fat, and sodium. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 is especially important for children from rural areas, who have less access to healthy food and are more likely to be obese compared to children from urban areas. For children in poverty, the risk of obesity declined substantially each year after the act’s implementation, such that obesity prevalence would have been 47 percent higher in 2018 if there had been no legislation (Kenny et al., 2020).

The continued flexibility with these regulations is taking a huge step backward and essentially undoing all the good that has come out of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The Trump administration’s rollback of nutrition standards, allowing lunchrooms to offer low-fat flavored milk, extending the lowest sodium target from 2017 to 2024 (the year after the original standards would have reduced sodium to evidence-based target levels), and only having half of the weekly grains meet the whole grain criteria is a huge misstep in the promotion of children’s health, especially in the prevention of obesity. Offering children less nutritious choices, and for some, it may be their only meal of the day, does them a great disservice. Research has found that providing healthy foods to children is beneficial for their academic achievement. A study conducted by the Brookings Institute found that when children were given healthier food choices, test scores actually improved (Thompson, 2020).

As a public health nurse, becoming involved in local and national government is one way to influence regulations. I could lobby for more nutritious lunches and support politicians who feel that child nutrition programs are an important issue. I could also go in front of the school board and advocate for spending money on healthier meals for children. In addition, I could also get involved in research that focuses on the benefits of healthy school lunches. Reaching out to and educating parent groups would also be an option, as well as setting up meetings to talk to the principals of local schools regarding the latest research on child nutrition. 

 References: 

Kenney, E. L., Barrett, J. L., Bleich, S. N., Ward, Z. J., Cradock, A. L., & Gortmaker, S. L. (2020). Impact Of The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act On Obesity Trends: Study examines impact of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 on childhood obesity trends. Health Affairs, 39(7), 1122-1129.

Thompson, E. D. (2020). Why nutritious meals matter in school. Phi Delta Kappan, 102(1), 34–37. 

https://doi.org/10.1177/0031721720956847

Response three:

The changes that the USDA have made in the last few years have impacted the school nutrition program significantly and it has played a major role in improving the programs that are provided by the school system.  These changes have made obtaining food during school much easier for students, as well as providing healthier options for students.  Providing healthier options can decrease childhood obesity and possibly reduce the risk of other diseases down the road.  I like the strategy of implementing this within school systems cue to the amount of time that a child may spend at school.  A child may require the school system to provide breakfast and lunch daily, and supplement snacks if the child was to stay for an afternoon school program.  This has a large influence on the diet of the child and adequate nutrition must be provided.  While this may not change what they eat at home, it may still provide a positive impact on the child’s life.  The option of continued flexibility and extension of these regulations also helps promote this plan.  First, if a school served a meal and none of the students ate it, the school is not required to serve that particular meal.  Also, since science and nutritional guidelines change over time, it allows for some change to be made to the menu.  This rule also leaves room to let schools compensate with other nutritional supplements when there is a crisis.  I like that they provide more options with the dairy, because some children’s nutritional requirements may differ from the others.  Providing a flavored milk can also promote intake of key nutrients for children that are growing and may not get them from other food groups.  As a public health nurse, in order to influence child nutritional programs I would have to first gather the data that these programs actually improve the overall quality of life for the children involved.  After gathering the data, I would present my case that indicates these nutritional programs are not only affecting the children involved, but how we can improve it as well.  So far, the programs have seemed effective from a nutritional standpoint, but it is up to the students to eat it.  If there were a cost effective way to provide delicious meals to students everyday, I would be confident that the transition would be easier for students and legislature. 

Mansfield, J. L., & Savaiano, D. A. (2017). Effect of school wellness policies and the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act on food-consumption behaviors of students, 2006–2016: a systematic review. 
Nutrition reviews, 
75(7), 533-552.