The Institute of Medicine, a non-profit organization, on Wednesday recommended new standards for school snacks and foods that sharply would mean goodbye to colas and French fries. The step, which was initiated by Congress to curb obesity in school children, recommends less calories, fat and sugar and encourages healthy and nutritious eating.
AP quotes Virginia A. Stallings, head of the IoM committee as saying, "Making sure that all foods and drinks available in schools meet nutrition standards is one more way schools can help children establish lifelong healthy eating habits."
"Foods and beverages should not be used to reward or to discipline for academic activities or behavior," she added.
However, school authorities are worried that if the recommendations are adopted, many dealers would expect complaints about losing this source of money. The standards would however not apply to bag lunches that students bring from home.
Additionally, the report also promotes the consumption of nonfat and low-fat dairy products, fruits, vegetables and whole grains and limits the amount of saturated fat, salt, added sugars, and total calories.
The report includes a specific recommendation for schools to increase the availability of low-fat and nonfat white and flavored milk and yogurt, with modest amounts of added sugars, for all grade levels, throughout the day.
