The Institute of Medicine (IOM) in a report released April 25 makes no recommendations for changing nutrition requirements in the National School Lunch Program or other federally supported school food programs and concentrates instead on suggestions for improving “competitive foods” available in schools.

The report, titled “Nutrition Standards for Foods in School: Leading the Way Toward Healthier Youth,” says federally reimbursable nutrition programs should be the primary source of foods and beverages offered at school and defines  “competitive foods” as “foods and beverages offered outside the federally reimbursable school nutrition programs.”

The report recommends standards for competitive foods based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and organizes competitive foods and beverages into two tiers—one for all students and the other for high school students after school.

• Tier 1 foods acceptable for sale in schools under the IOM standards would include fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, plus nonfat and low-fat dairy, and would be limited to 200 calories or less per portion as packaged. These portions would be allowed to get no more than 35 percent of their total calories from fat and less than 10 percent of total calories from saturated fats, and would have to be trans fat-free. Tier I foods would get 35 percent or less of their calories from sugars, and sodium content would be restricted to 200 mg or less per portion.
• Tier I beverages acceptable for sale in schools under the IOM standards would include water without flavoring, additives, or carbonation; low-fat and nonfat milk; and lactose-free and soy beverages. Beverages would have to be caffeine-free, and flavored milk could contain no more than 22 grams of total sugars per 8-ounce serving. One-hundred-percent fruit juice would be allowed, in 4-ounce portions for elementary and middle school students and 8-ounces for high schoolers.
• Tier 2 “snack foods” for high school students after school could not exceed 200 calories per portion as packaged and would have to meet the same dietary requirements as Tier 1.

As to how its recommendations for competitive foods would be implemented, the IOM suggests there should be “regulatory guidance” to federal, state, and local authorities and performance-based guidelines and technical assistance to schools or school districts. The report also suggests that federal agencies should “engage with the food industry” to establish a user-friendly system for identifying snacks, foods, and beverages that meet the Tier 1 and Tier 2 requirements, with specific guidance for wholegrain products and combination products that contain fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

In a conclusion to its report, the IOM notes that federally reimbursable school nutrition programs such as school lunch and breakfast “have traditionally been an important means for ensuring that students have daily access to fruits, vegetables, whole-grain-based products and nonfat or low-fat dairy products during the school day.”

It was the view of the committee that wrote the report that those federally reimbursable programs should be the main source of nutrition provided at school, but the committee also recognized that “there are an increasing number of opportunities for students to eat and drink, including a la carte services, vending machines, school stores, snack bars, concession stands, classroom or school celebrations, achievement rewards, after-school programs, and other venues.”

“Schools are encouraged to limit such additional opportunities for students to eat and drink, but when they do arise in school, they should be used to encourage greater daily consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nonfat or low-fat dairy products,” the report concluded.

Although the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which administers the federally reimbursable school food programs, provided funds for the report, the finished report does not necessarily reflect the views of USDA, the IOM pointed out. USDA officials have announced that they may update regulations for school food programs to take into account new dietary guidelines and problems such as childhood obesity, and legislation now pending in Congress would require changes in USDA guidelines described by one senator as “archaic.”

The full text of the report, “Nutrition Standards for Foods in Schools: Leading the Way Toward Healthier Youth,” is available at www.nap.edu.