School Nutrition Standards

Uniform national nutrition standards beyond the lunchroom could help promote healthy diets.

Federal law requires that all districts participating in the National School Lunch Program have local wellness policies in place by the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year. Make sure your policies provide children with access to the dairy they need for growth and development.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) issued new regulations on beverages that can be substituted, under limited circumstances, for milk in the National School Meal Programs for children who are unable to consume cow’s milk because of medical or special dietary needs.

Leading national health and nutrition organizations have come together to urge child nutrition advocates, school food service organizations and health organizations to support the use of “nutrient density” as the cornerstone of dietary recommendations and meal planning.

Nearly 80 percent of students in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) chose low-fat or fat-free milk in 2005, compared to less than 30 percent in the early 1990s, according to a report analyzing U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data.

The 2004 renewal of child nutrition statutes (P.L. 108-265) codified existing regulations on substitute beverages, with only relatively minor changes. It’s important to understand what the new law does and does not say about substitutes such as soy beverages.

Schools in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program have the option to offer a nondairy milk substitute to a student with a medical or special dietary need other than a disability. These Questions and Answers clarify various issues concerning the substitution of fluid milk in non-disability cases.

This final rule implements a legislative provision on milk substitutes that is consistent with current regulations on menu exceptions for students with disabilities and adds requirements for the optional substitution of nondairy beverage for fluid milk for children with medical or special dietary needs in the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program.