Kids' Safe and Healthful Foods Project Aims to Revolutionize School Cafeterias

This is the second installment of a three-part series on school lunch called "Turning the Tables." To read more of this series, click here.

America's children are caught in a growing problem — literally. One out of every three kids and teens now weigh in as overweight or obese. In fact, the obesity rates among children aged six to 11 have more than quadrupled over the past four decades. Childhood obesity has truly become a public health crisis of epidemic proportions.

With most kids eating more than half of their daily calories while at school, improving cafeteria meals is one major way to slim down children's waistlines. That's where the Kids' Safe and Healthful Foods Project comes in.

A collaboration between the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Kids' Safe and Healthful Foods Project aims to get the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to seriously beef up the nutritional guidelines for the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs. These federally funded programs feed tens of millions of kids every day, yet school meals' nutritional guidelines haven't been updated in more than 15 years. Even with this incredibly low bar, more than 90 percent of America's schools serve meals that fail to meet current nutrition standards. No wonder our kids are expanding before our eyes.

It's time to give cafeteria lunches a much-needed makeover. President Obama took a step in the right direction when he signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act into law in late 2010. The legislation, also known as the school lunch reform bill, provides more federal funding for school meals and requires the USDA to update its nutritional guidelines for breakfasts and lunches.

The USDA, in conjunction with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), released cafeteria meal recommendations that would require more produce, a greater diversity of vegetables, low-fat and fat-free dairy, fewer starches, and meals with reduced sodium, calories, and fat counts. Whether or not these proposed guidelines will go into effect, though, depends on the results of a public comment period that ends on April 13th. The Kids' Safe and Healthful Food Project is asking everyone to submit comments to the USDA and push the agency to adopt science-based, healthy nutrition guidelines.

The other piece of the puzzle is training cafeteria workers and providing them with the proper equipment to actually prepare healthy foods that comply with the USDA's new nutrition guidelines. Countless school cafeterias throughout the nation lack proper kitchen equipment, dishing out school meals with little more than fryers and microwaves. It's difficult to make meals using fresh produce and healthy grains when cafeteria workers lack the training or equipment to prep and cook these kinds of entrees. That's why the Kids' Safe and Healthful Food Project is also asking the USDA to ensure that schools get the resources they need to provide training to workers and purchase kitchen equipment.

With more than 23 million children and teenagers battling with weight issues, the time for school lunch reform is now. If you want schools to serve more fresh produce and fewer french fries, join the Kids' Safe and Healthful Foods Campaign. Sign the petition asking the USDA to institute new, science-based nutrition guidelines for cafeteria meals.

Photo credit: juliejordonscott via Flickr