When
schools across the nation improved the nutritional quality of lunches in the
2012-2013 school year, it left many people wondering whether the change would
improve children’s eating habits.
The Pew Charitable Trusts issued a brief
recently that includes results from four of multiple studies conducted. The four studies represent those that tracked
the largest number of children, and the results indicate that children have
been eating healthier. Three of the four
studies measured student food consumption and the fourth evaluated the changes
in the nutritional quality of the lunches students chose.
One
of the studies completed by researchers from Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy
and Obesity compared the amount of food children consumed at 12 Connecticut
schools from 2012 to 2014. The results
show an increased consumption of 12.7% for entrees, 18% for vegetables, and 2%
for fruits.
Researchers
from Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, Harvard School
of Public Health, and the University of Washington who studied the eating habits
of students from selected schools in Texas, Massachusetts, and Washington also reported
positive findings from their studies.
