By Rochelle Davis, Founding Executive Director
Over the past few years, a debate has been raging about the type of snacks that should be made available to students in a school environment. This debate has taken place at the federal level, in state capitols around the country, and at many school board meetings.
In the midst of this debate, it was reassuring to see that a common-sense approach to creating a school environment that promotes healthy eating has in fact been validated again. A new study, published in the Journal of Nutrition, documented that restricting the availability of unhealthy snacks in schools does lead to a small increase in fruit and vegetable consumption among fifth-graders.
According to one of the researchers, “When school policies limit the availability of high-fat and high-sugar snack foods, even a small percentage increase in fruit and vegetable consumption among fifth-graders means the policy may affect a fairly large number of children throughout the school.”
Learn more about this study here.
HSC works to promote high standards for school nutrition in Chicago and nationwide. Learn more about our initiatives related to the re-authorization of the Child Nutrition Act.
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