Featured
200,000 Voices for Healthier Schools
More than 200,000 people wrote to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in support of proposed nutritional guidelines for snack foods and drinks in schools.
Competitive Foods
Comments
RWJF Voices Support for Proposed Nutrition Standards for School Snacks, Drinks
RWJF President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, provided feedback to the U.S. Department of Agriculture on its proposed updates to the standards, and urged USDA to finalize and fully implement them as soon as possible.
FROM HEALTHY EATING RESEARCH
Recommendations for Healthier Beverages
Healthy Eating Research convened an expert advisory panel to develop a comprehensive set of age-based recommendations to define healthier beverages.
From Bridging the Gap
Efforts to Improve School District Wellness Policies Yield Mixed Results
School districts have made progress to strengthen their wellness policies, but there is a wide gap in compliance among the required provisions, primarily because many districts have not adopted guidelines for school snacks and drinks.
Featured
Healthy Foods in Schools
Jessica Donze Black, Project director of the Kids' Safe and Healthful Foods Project, talks about why students need healthy foods in schools.
Health Policy Snapshot
How Can Healthier School Snacks and Beverages Improve Student Health and Help School Budgets?
Today, more than 23.5 million children and adolescents in the United States are overweight or obese, putting them at greater risk for serious health problems and straining the health care system. Students consume 35 percent to 50 percent of their daily calories at school, where they often are exposed to junk foods and sugary drinks that offer little nutritional value.
Read the issue briefQuick Facts From This Brief
- About 40 percent of all students buy and eat one or more snacks at school; 68 percent buy and consume at least one sugary drink.
- Policies that restrict sales of unhealthy snacks and beverages in schools can improve children’s diets, reduce weight gain, and increase food service revenues.
Competitive Foods Resources
Strong State Laws on School Snacks Can Help Prevent Student Weight Gain
Children and teens in states with strong laws restricting the sale of unhealthy snack foods and beverages in school gained less weight over a three-year period than those living in states with no such policies.
Calculating the Cost
Where does your middle school student’s lunch money go? Imagine that you give your student $2.50 to buy a meal at school. This interactive calculator compares the nutritional value, and impact on school revenue, of the student's choice: school meal, or a meal from the a la carte line or vending machine.
Out of Balance: A Look at Snack Foods in Secondary Schools Across the States
Nationally, the availability of snack foods in secondary schools varies tremendously from state to state. Under this patchwork of policies, the majority of our nation’s children live in states where less healthy snack food choices are readily available. The availability of healthy snacks such as fruits and vegetables is limited.
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Still Too Fat to Fight
A report by Mission: Readiness, a national security organization of retired generals and admirals, calls on leaders in all sectors to make strong, broad changes that will create healthier schools. The report, Still Too Fat to Fight, shows that U.S. students consume almost 400 billion calories from junk food sold at school each year.
Read moreSchool Budgets, Student Health to Benefit from Higher Nutrition Standards
Updating nutrition standards for snacks and beverages sold in school so that they meet the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans could help students maintain a healthy weight and support school food service revenue, according to a health impact assessment (HIA) released by the Kids’ Safe & Healthful Foods Project and the Health Impact Project.
The HIA found that updating national standards for the snacks and drinks sold in school vending machines, stores and à la carte lines would reduce students’ consumption of unhealthy items during the school day.
The study also found that consistent national guidelines likely would encourage more students to buy breakfast and lunch at school, providing schools with extra revenue.
Students in lower-income communities and Black and Hispanic students would benefit from stronger standards, which is of particular importance because obesity rates tend to be higher among such students.
Read the reportLA Times: Nutrition, Finances Win with Healthful School Snacks, Report Says
There’s frequent complaining that kids won’t eat healthful food at school, but [Kids’ Safe & Healthful Foods Project director Jessica Donze] Black says that’s not so. Given the choice between carrots and chips, they might choose the chips, but if the choice is carrots or celery, kids will eat.
Read the articleVideo: Experts Discuss Health Impact Assessment
Jessica Donze Black and Health Impact Project researcher Aaron Wernham, M.D., discuss how student health and school revenue can benefit from nutritional standards for snacks and drinks sold in schools.
Statement
RWJF Statement on Proposal of Updated Nutrition Standards for School Snacks
In February, the U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed updated nutrition standards for school snacks and drinks. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey responded, saying "we need the strongest possible standards to help children enjoy the best possible health."
Competitive Foods in the News
Los Angeles Times: Last Chance to Weigh in on Feds' Proposed Rules on School Snacks
Sacramento Bee: Schools Need to Help Kids Eat Healthy (Opinion)
Omaha World Herald: Help Students Choose Healthful Snacks (Opinion)
MinnPost: It’s Time for Healthier Snacks and Beverages in Our Schools (Opinion)
Reuters: Rules Call for Swing to Healthier Snacks in Schools
Associated Press: Study: Junk Food Laws May Help Curb Kids' Obesity
Washington Post: Junk Food Widely Available at U.S. Elementary Schools Despite Anti-Obesity Push
Reuters: Fewer Students Buy Sodas, Sports Drinks Still a Problem: Study
The Hill: Retired Military Chiefs: Obesity Levels Mean US is 'Too Fat to Fight'
What are competitive foods?
The foods and beverages schools offer outside of meal programs are often called competitive foods because they compete with school meals for students' spending. Schools sell a variety of competitive foods in vending machines, stores, à la carte lines, and other venues. The resources on this page, from RWJF grantees and partners, examine the types of competitive foods available in our nation's schools, as well as their impact on student health and school finances.
80%
of US voters favor nat'l standards for snacks & drinks sold in schools
From the Field
Implementing Strong Nutrition Standards for Schools: Financial Implications (PDF)
A growing body of evidence suggests that schools can have strong nutrition standards and maintain financial stability. (Centers for Disease Control)
Model Policy for Water Access in Schools
By providing drinking water as an alternative to soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages, schools can promote children’s health. (ChangeLab Solutions)
Dispelling School Food Funding Myths
The National Alliance for Nutriton & Activity responds to 5 common beliefs about school food funding. (NANA)
Get Involved
Join PreventObesity.net and find out how you can take action to support nutritional standards for competitive foods. (PreventObesity.net)
NewPublicHealth interviewed Kids' Safe and Healthful Foods Project director Jessica Donze Black about state standards for snacks sold in secondary schools.
