WASHINGTON - The struggle over what to do about school food emerged anew Thursday when health experts told a House panel that Congress should raise nutrition standards, but a school-board lobbyist warned against new federal mandates or measures that would kill school food sales.
Even New York first lady Michelle Paterson, who said she promotes healthy eating, told lawmakers, "As you advocate for improving standards for school foods, I ask you also to examine the costs to states to supply healthier foods."
That tension between health and economics in the hearing, chaired by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola), echoed findings of a Newsday series on school lunches last year.
McCarthy, a former nurse, called the hearing by the Healthy Families and Communities subcommittee to address the growing problem of child obesity and attendant ailments.
She said reducing obesity comes down to healthy eating and physical activity. "One of the best tools we have to combat these illnesses is our ability to provide wholesome and healthy nutrition to children in school," she said.
Congress is weighing measures that could have a big impact on the kind of foods available in school lunchrooms and vending machines.
The Child Nutrition and Women, Infants and Children acts are up for reauthorization this year. They were first created to feed undernourished children and now target obesity.
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) has introduced a bill that would require that all food sold in schools meet current nutrition standards.
Efforts are under way to help children, said Nancy Copperman of North Shore-LIJ Health System. She described a new pilot program in five Long Island school districts (Roosevelt, Westbury, Glen Cove, North Bellmore and Valley Stream) that encourages kids to be physically active.
But Dr. Virginia Stallings, chairwoman of a committee setting nutrition standards for school lunches and breakfasts for the Institute of Medicine, put a greater emphasis on using schools to educate and provide children with healthy food.
"We have to deal with the food side of it first. It is very hard to exercise enough to overcome overeating," Stallings said.
Schools, she said, provide a prime opportunity to do that through higher nutritional standards and better foods.
But Reginald Felton, director of federal legislation for the National School Boards Association, said local boards have concerns about impacts of federal mandates.
He also repeatedly warned that food choices must be in accordance with the communities around the schools.
And he added that school boards worry about revenue loss, saying new federal restrictions on food and drink "could substantially reduce revenues that local schools need."
