Report urges calorie cap in school lunches

October 19, 2009 by REID J. EPSTEIN. AND JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER. / reid.epstein@newsday.com., jennifer.kelleher@newsday.com

School lunches need more fruits, veggies and whole grains and a calorie cap, says a report released Monday urging an update of the nation's 14-year-old standards for cafeteria fare.

The findings, from the Institute of Medicine, mirror those from last year's Newsday series on school food, which showed processed foods high in fat and salt dominate Long Island school cafeteria menus and that school food service directors trying to offer more fresh fruits and vegetables are hampered by financial constraints.

Schools must follow federal school lunch standards because the government's school lunch program subsidizes lunch and breakfast for needy kids in nearly every public school and many private ones.

Those standards don't restrict the number of calories students are offered, even as childhood obesity rates climb.

Marge McCarrick, food service director for North Shore schools, said she's eager to see the report because the findings echo what she and her colleagues on Long Island have long known and have tried to implement despite outdated federal standards.

"I'm glad that they're raising the standards," she said. "I wish they would raise the funding with it."

She said a major reason for raising the prices of meals in her district by 50 cents midyear last school year was to include more fruits, vegetables and whole grains. A full-priced lunch at North Shore costs $2.25 at the elementary level and $2.50 at the secondary level - well above the average price charged on Long Island.

The Newsday series found Long Island schools on average charged full-paying students $1.68 for lunch in 2007-08; school lunch directors said $3 would be more realistic to serve healthy food.

Lunch can be daunting for school kitchens, which receive less from the government, $2.68, than it costs to make each free lunch, about $2.92, according to a recent survey done by the School Nutrition Association.

The report recommended schoolchildren be offered two to five servings of fruit, one to two servings of vegetables and nine to 13 servings of grains per lunch. The report also suggested a maximum calorie count of between 650 and 850 calories per lunch.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the Obama administration would review the report as it writes new rules for school meals. The federal government's prescribed dietary guidelines, which serve as the basis for the Food Pyramid, call for lots of fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains.

"Today, overweight children outnumber undernourished children, and childhood obesity is often referred to as an epidemic in both the medical and community settings," wrote Virginia Stallings, who chaired the Washington, D.C.-based institute's report committee.