Lunch line can be front line in fighting childhood obesity

As a mother of five children, I know that a child’s ability to learn, play and grow all starts with the basics of good nutrition. If children’s bodies aren’t nourished with enough food — and nutritious food — they cannot possibly achieve their full potential. Children who are hungry, or who are only getting foods of low nutritional value and living a sedentary lifestyle, are at risk for health and developmental challenges that can stay with them for a lifetime.

Today, when many American children receive more than half their daily calories from food and drinks consumed at school, it is absolutely essential that schools become a center of nutritional excellence. The vision that the Obama administration has shared for child nutrition programs represents a major step in the right direction, and the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act recently introduced by Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) was another sign that Congress plans to take a comprehensive look at America’s dual challenges of childhood hunger and childhood obesity.

Many of the proposals put forth by the administration and Congress are groundbreaking, but one of the most effective is setting science-based nutritional guidelines for foods sold in schools. America’s food and beverage makers agree that the school environment is a unique environment and that the lunch line can be on the front lines of the childhood obesity battle. USDA should be given the power to establish nutrition standards for foods, including those in vending machines. 

Food producers have long supported efforts to ensure high-quality, affordable and healthy foods in schools. They fully support this new proposal because they are ready to do more and go the extra mile to bring more healthy options to students. In fact, they have already done so in supermarkets across the country. America’s food and beverage companies have changed more than 10,000 of their products to reduce calories, fat, sugar and salt. And they are doing more every day to respond to consumers’ demands for more nutritious, lower-calorie offerings.

Providing clear nutritional guidelines in our schools can take the same innovation that is evident in the aisles of any supermarket and put it to work on behalf of America’s schoolchildren.

While changing the mix of foods available to kids in schools is important, it is also crucial to address the tragic number of schoolchildren who are going hungry every day. It is a sad truth that there is a huge gap between the number of kids who are eligible for free or reduced price meals in schools and the number of kids who are actually participating in these programs. This must change. Congress and the administration are rightly focused on increasing access to school breakfast and lunch programs and removing the stigma that is associated with participating in these programs. Ensuring that every child has a nutritious meal to start the day and during the lunch hour is not only the right thing to do; it is vital to helping generations of kids reach their full potential.

Certainly, this all comes at a cost. But we must not think of school nutrition simply as spending — rather as an investment. Every dollar we spend making sure our children are appropriately fed pays off in improved academic performance and better health, all of which contribute to a stronger society and economy for years to come.

Of course, child nutrition legislation represents only one part of the overall solution to the nutritional needs of our children. As first lady Michelle Obama has clearly articulated, the problem of childhood obesity is rooted in many factors, including insufficient nutritional education and limited physical activity. If we are to meet her ambitious goal of solving the epidemic of childhood obesity within a generation, we must not only pass a strong child nutrition reauthorization bill, but also institute sweeping changes that will require the participation of government, educators, community leaders, parents, we in the food industry and many others who have an interest in our children’s welfare. This is truly a problem that demands action from all sectors.

The child nutrition bill is a powerful catalyst for the kind of science-based changes we need. It will mean that millions of children will get the fuel they need each day to achieve. It will mean their risk of serious chronic disease, including diabetes, will be lower. It will mean that the nation’s near-term and long-term health care challenges will be more manageable. Above all, it will mean that this nation of plenty will be one step closer to realizing the promise of ensuring that no child suffers from the pangs of hunger or the burden of obesity. Reaching that goal will not happen overnight. But by passing a strong child nutrition bill, Congress can set us on the right path.

Bailey is the CEO of the Grocery Manufacturers Association.

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