Updated School Meal Standards: working towards a common goal of healthy children and helping them reach their full potential.
School meals will continue to include fruits and vegetables, emphasize whole grains, and give kids the right balance of nutrients for healthy, tasty meals. For the first time, schools will focus on products with less added sugar, especially in school breakfast.
School nutrition professionals continue to make school meals the healthiest meals children eat in a day! To take school meals to the next level, USDA is updating the school nutrition standards after considering recommendations from the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans and listening to a diverse range of voices with experience in child nutrition and health.
Más fuerte con el desayuno escolar: infografía
This factsheet highlights how a variety of healthy foods from each MyPlate food group are included as part of a school lunch. Learn about ways to help children make healthy food and beverage choices at school.
This one-page infographic highlights the benefits of school breakfast based on the findings from the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
School meals are one of the most important tools for ensuring children have access to healthy and nutritious food. USDA strengthened school meal standards in 2012. Research on the impact of these changes emphasizes why we must support nutritious school meals.
USDA Foods data collected via the Web-Based Supply Chain Management (WBSCM) system and the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Order Receipt System (FFAVORS) were analyzed to conduct analyses on food purchases and spending at the national and state levels for four school years. These infographics display national data for school years 2016-2017 and 2017-2018.
Findings are from the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study, which provides information about a broad array of topics, including the food and nutrient content of school meals, the costs of school meals, the food environments in schools, and the contribution of school meals to children’s overall diets.