Reduced Junk Food in US Schools Due to USDA ‘Smart Snacks’ Initiative

The USDA has brought out recent nutrition standards for schools across the United States. The objective of “Smart Snacks in School” nutrition standards is to provide scientific based information and advice on nutrition to families. This will help them adopt healthier eating habits. The campaign also stresses the need to increase the availability of healthy foods.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made an announcement of the revised standards and said, "Parents and schools work hard to give our youngsters the opportunity to grow up healthy and strong, and providing healthy options throughout school cafeterias, vending machines, and snack bars will support their great efforts."

The standards stress on a healthier diet with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein with low fat dairy products.

Schools as well as food and beverage companies are being given some implementation time to adopt these revised nutritional standards. The USDA will also provide training and technical assistance at every juncture to ensure the objective is met. Families have also been encouraged to provide packed home-cooked lunch to children as a way to encourage healthy eating.



Source-Medindia