Schools Embrace National Nutrition Month Spirit Year-Round

Researchers from the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity weighed and photographed lunches served to children at 12 Connecticut schools in spring 2012, 2013, and 2014. Compared with 2012, children ate nearly 13 percentage points more of their entrees and 18 percentage points more of their vegetables by the last year of the study. (See Figure 1.) Food waste declined as a result.

More than 30 million American children eat school lunches each day. Parents can feel good about this fact because these meals are healthier than ever, which means that kids get the good nutrition they need to learn and do their best in school.

Eunice C. Williams is the principal of Brockman Elementary School in Columbia, South Carolina, which received national recognition from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation in 2015 for nutrition and physical activity improvements. The Kids’ Safe and Healthful Foods Project spoke with Williams about her school’s efforts to support healthy eating and active lives.

Research shows that healthy kids do better in school. That’s why there are nutrition standards for food and drinks sold in schools. But a gap in the rules is letting some states make choices that threaten children’s health.