NSBA's Issue Brief on School Nutrition
BACKGROUND
The issue of nutrition in America’s schools has attracted considerable attention in recent years, particularly as the rate of child obesity has increased. Over the last decade, prevalence of overweight among 6-11 year olds increased from 11 to 19%, and from 11% to 17% among adolescents aged 12-19. As a result, there have been numerous attempts at the federal, state, and industry levels to confront this issue—from legislation regulating the types of foods sold in schools, to increased physical education requirements, to agreements forged between beverage and snack food industry leaders to develop new nutritional guidelines for their products.
RECENT LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
Congress responded to these concerns in 2004 by passing the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act, which required every school district participating in the federal school meals program to enact a wellness policy by the 2006-2007 school year. The new school district policies to be developed by parents, students, school food services staff, the school board, school administrators and the public, must address the following:
- Goals for nutrition education
- Goals for physical activity
- Nutrition guidelines for all foods available at school
- Goals for other school-based activities designed to promote student wellness
- Assurances that school meal guidelines are not less restrictive than federal requirements
- Plans for evaluating implementation of the policy
Since passage of the Act, many organizations, including NSBA, have provided guidelines, tools, and advice for developing and implementing these policies.
More recently, legislation was introduced by Senator Harkin (D-IA) and Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) to update the decades-old federal nutrition standards for snack or “competitive” foods sold in school. The Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act of 2006 would require the Secretary of Agriculture to promulgate regulations outlining the types of foods with minimal or no nutritional value that schools would be prohibited from providing in school cafeterias as well as in vending machines, snack lines, and school stores throughout the school day. This legislation would expand the federal government’s role in regulating school nutrition policy beyond its current involvement in the school lunch and breakfast programs.
Although, the bill did not see any legislative action in the 109th Congress, it is expected to be reintroduced in the 110th Congress.
NSBA POSITON
NSBA believes that school nutrition is vitally important in fostering a healthy and positive learning environment for children to achieve their full potential. In working to achieve this, NSBA urges Congress to refrain from enacting legislation restricting the authority of local school districts to address the issue of childhood nutrition. NSBA opposes additional regulations or mandates on schools outside of the federally subsidized school lunch and breakfast programs. Such efforts dismiss the work of wellness committees and usurp the jurisdiction of local districts to create a policy that reflects the values and financial capability of their communities.