Oral

The objective of the IOM Nutrition Standards committee was to make recommendations regarding appropriate nutrition standards for the availability, sale, content, and consumption of foods and beverages at school, with attention given to foods and beverages offered in competition with federally-reimbursable meals and snacks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) served as sponsor of the IOM Nutrition Standards project. The IOM Nutrition Standards are based on nutritional science and synthesize lessons learned from relevant research and experience from the development of state- and local-based standards for foods and beverages offered outside federally-reimbursable meals and snacks. The IOM Nutrition Standards also consider how to assure that foods and beverages offered in schools contribute to an overall healthful eating environment. Benchmarks to guide future evaluation studies of the application of the standards are also included in the IOM Nutrition Standards. An overview of the IOM Nutrition Standards for Foods in Schools will be provided in this session as well as discussion about implementation of the IOM Nutrition Standards. Information sharing and discussion will be used to elicit participant feedback about the benefits and challenges of implementing the IOM Nutrition Standards within their states, school districts, and school(s).

Session Objectives: At the end of the session, participants will be able to 1. Identify and describe the key recommendations of the new IOM report on Nutrition Standards for Foods in Schools 2. Consider policy implications of the IOM nutrition standards for states, school districts, and schools 3. Describe ways that IOM nutrition standards can be implemented in schools