School meals are the healthiest foods children eat, according to the study

The researchers analyzed the diets of more than 21,000 children and 40,000 adults between 2003 and 2018 and found that the percentage of “poor nutritional quality food consumed in schools” decreased from 55% to 24% during the 15-year period, according to a study released Monday. and JAMA Network Open.

Nutritional quality was measured using several scales, including U.S. Department of Agriculture Healthy Eating Index, which assesses a person’s diet using nine appropriate components (whole fruit, whole fruit, whole vegetables, legumes, whole grains, dairy, whole protein foods, protein of seafood or vegetables and fatty acids) and four components of moderation (refined grains, sodium, added sugars and saturated fats).

The event set new nutritional standards for meals in schools to ensure children have access to healthy food, according to the USDA. Some of the standards include offering students fruits and vegetables every day and limiting the number of calories they are served based on the ages of the children.

“It shows you how a single policy passed by Congress can drastically improve the nutrition of millions of children,” Mozaffarian said.

In the results, the researchers also found that the increase in healthy eating in schools affected all ethnicities included in the study equally.

Most calories are from the grocery store

However, Mozaffarian noted, only 9% of the calories children eat come from schools. For adults and children, approximately two-thirds of the food consumed comes from the grocery store.

During the 15-year study, the amount of unhealthy food consumed by children in the grocery store decreased from 53% to 45%. For adults, the drop was 40% to 32%.

Mozaffarian said he believes grocery stores are the “biggest opportunity to improve the quality of the diet,” as most of the calories they consume are bought at these establishments.

One solution would be true cost accounting, he said, which is where food prices are based on their social costs, including that of people’s health.

“Food that really makes people healthier should cost less and be more readily available,” Mozaffarian said. “Foods that cause disease and also harm the environment should be more expensive.”

When parents don’t bring processed foods home, it’s one less opportunity to eat them, said Marion Nestle, professor emeritus of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University’s Paulette Goddard, who didn’t participate in the study .

Another strategy to decrease the amount of unhealthy foods children consume at the grocery store is to prevent companies from publishing unhealthy food to children, Nestlé said.

He said children have brainwashed themselves into believing they are supposed to eat “baby food” like cereals and fast food marketed for children. But in reality, Nestle said, there is no “baby food.”

Nestle continued, “Children should eat exactly what their parents do. And their parents should eat healthily as much as they can, so there is no need to buy special baby foods.”

He also recommended that grocery stores place healthier foods in top-quality real estate sites, such as end aisles and shelves that are at eye level for adults and children.

“There’s no reason kids can’t appreciate healthy foods,” Nestle said, noting that nutritious foods at school and at home can be delicious.