Institute of Medicine School Meal Recommendations

Institute of Medicine School Meal Recommendations

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) made sweeping recommendations on ways to make school meals healthier in its report, School Meals: Building Blocks for Healthy Children, issued in October 2009. The report was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as part of an initiative to improve the nutritional profile of the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs and to help children in developing healthy eating habits.

To understand the scope of these programs, in 2009-2010, 11.3 million children in 86,816 schools participated in the school breakfast program with 83.2 percent of them receiving free and reduced price breakfasts. Almost three times as many, or 31.6 million children in more than 99,685 schools, participated in the school lunch program. Nearly 20 million of them received free and reduced price lunches.

The report's recommendations bring school meals in line with the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans and Dietary Reference Intakes. The key recommendations increase the amount and variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains; set a minimum and maximum level of calories; and reduce saturated fat and sodium.

More specifically for grains, the report recommends schools should ensure that half or more of the grain foods they provide are whole grain-rich, meaning they contain 50 percent or more whole grains. IOM further recommends that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration require food manufacturers to label products with their whole-grain content to help food preparers ensure they are meeting the standards.

For additional details, click the following links:

The IOM provides independent, objective, evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector, and the public. To learn more about the IOM. http://www.iom.edu/About-IOM.aspx

Institute of Medicine News release announcing the report.
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12751

The report’s eight recommendations at a glance.
http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2009/School-Meals-Building-Blocks-for-Healthy-Children/Report-Recommendations-School-Meals.aspx

Comparison of current requirements and new recommendations.
http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2009/School-Meals-Building-Blocks-for-Healthy-Children/Fact-Sheet-School-Meals.aspx

The complete 380-page report in pdf format.
http://www.fns.usda.gov/ora/menu/published/cnp/FILES/SchoolMealsIOM.pdf