Creating nutrition policy change in schools: What are USDA's new healthier meal standards?

Background: USDA recently announced new standards for meals served in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs. These standards focus on food-based, rather than nutrient-based approaches, emphasizing fruits, vegetables, low-fat milk and whole grain servings, consistent with US Dietary Guidelines. Additional standards govern competitive food sales. Purpose: This cross-sectional study examined food and beverages served in the NSL program for a sample of Arkansas schools to determine the degree to which meals met the new standards, and identify changes potentially needed most in order to meet these regulations. Methods: Observations were completed in a purposeful sample of 151 school cafeterias (14% of the state's public schools), December 2008 to May 2011. Food and beverages available during lunch in plate and a la carte serving lines were assessed using the School Cafeteria Nutrition Assessment instrument, a food-based meal assessment tool. Scoring algorithms utilized the Institute of Medicine's recommendations to assess servings of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beverages and other food items. Findings/Results: Relative to the new lunch standards, 58.9% of schools offered options that would meet the minimum requirements for servings of vegetables, 82.8% for fruit, and 20.5% for whole grains; 99.3% of schools met standards for milk. Conclusions: Only 20% of schools met new standards for servings of whole grain foods and about 60% of schools for vegetable servings. Identifying and addressing barriers to achieving the new meal standards will be required to expedite national efforts supporting healthier school meals , and healthy school food environments overall.