A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) shows that adding more fruits and vegetables to meals at schools leads to kids eating healthier food.
The study is based on new standards made by the federal government in 2012, which required schools to provide healthier meals for children, according to Ivanhoe.
In the study, researchers tracked food that was wasted by students from low-income schools before and after the standards were implemented, Ivanhoe reported. The researchers found that food waste did not rise after the new standards took effect. They also found that vegetable consumption increased by 16.2 percent, and that fruit consumption increased by 23 percent.
Juliana Cohen, lead author and research fellow of in the Department of Nutrition at HSPH, spoke about how the findings of the study fight against critics who say the new standards have led to more waste of food, according to HSPH News.
"There is a push from some organizations and lawmakers to weaken the new standards," Cohen said. "We hope the findings, which show that students are consuming more fruits and vegetables, will discourage those efforts."
Authors of the study say that the cause of food waste is not the new standards, but the quality of food served to kids, Tech Times reported.
"While the new standards make important changes by requiring reimbursable school meals to have increased quantities of fruits and vegetables and more vegetable variety, this may not be sufficient," the study said. "Schools must also focus on the quality and palatability of the fruits and vegetables offered and on creative methods to engage students to taste and participate in selection of menu items to decrease overall waste levels."
Despite the success of the study, there is still an issue with fruit and vegetable waste since students leave between 60 and 75 percent of vegetables and 40 percent of fruits on their trays, HSPH News reported. The authors of the study said schools must improve food quality and palatability in order to bring waste down.
"The new school meal standards are the strongest implemented by the USDA to date, and the improved dietary intakes will likely have important health implications for children," the researchers said.
