The results of a study conducted in school canteens in the US may be alarming for some parents. It turns out that children who eat school lunches, which are part of the government’s National School Lunch Program, are more likely to be overweight, reports EurekAlert.
But the same study proves that children who eat both breakfast and federal government-sponsored lunches at school are lighter than children who do not participate in the program or eat only lunches, says economist Daniel L. Millimet of Southern Methodist University. in Dallas.
Nutritionists confirm that eating breakfast is important for a healthy lifestyle, adding that any breakfast is better than no breakfast.
The fact that school lunches are related to the childhood obesity epidemic is worrying, but not entirely surprising, adds Millimet.
The School Meal Program is overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It covers part of the costs and allocates agricultural surpluses to them. However, it does not require meals to meet certain standards. Schools choose specific foods themselves.
Formally, the federal government sets guidelines for food at lunch and breakfast if schools want to receive government funding. However, it was confirmed that school lunches to a lesser extent meet these guidelines than breakfasts. Another possible reason for this is that schools are now trying to make money from the menu. It’s possible that even if the school lunch is healthy, the kids who buy lunch are eager to order supplements that are no longer healthy, Millimet said.
The National Student Lunch Program provides meals to approximately 30 million children in 100. public and private non-profit schools. In turn, the School Breakfast Program financially supports over 80 thousand. schools, reaching around 10 million children.
The study was published in The Journal of Human Resources.
Data from other studies conducted between 1971 and 1974 and repeated in 2003-2004 reported that the prevalence of overweight in children aged 2 to 5 years jumped from 5 to 13,9 percent, while in school-age adolescents from 6 to 11 years old from 4 to 18,8 percent, and in the age from 12 to 19 years from 6,1 to 17,4 percent. (PAP)