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The National School Lunch Program

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The National School Lunch Program

The most recent change to the National School Lunch program which went into effect July 1, 2012, the first change in over fifteen years, provides nutritious meals that contain one-third of the recommended dietary allowances. Tennessee’s school nutrition program is responsible for all the public schools in Tennessee, which are on the National School Lunch Program. With this change, it became required for schools to increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat or fat free milk in school meals. It also includes reducing levels of sodium, saturated fat and trans fat in meals.
On January 12, 2010 the U.S. Department of Agriculture published a purposed rule to update the nutrition standards for meals served in schools as part of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010. The main focal point of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 was to improve child nutrition. The child obesity rate and the children who live in poverty that were going hungry were the economic issues that surrounded the act. “During 2007–2008, 20% of U.S. children aged 6–11 years and 18% of persons aged 12–19 years were obese, percentages that have tripled since 1980. Engaging children and adolescents in healthy eating and regular physical activity can lower their risk for obesity and related chronic diseases” (5‐Year Technical Assistance and Guidance Plan for Local School Wellness Policies, 2011). The program authorizes funding and sets the regulations of The National School Lunch Program. “The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act allows USDA, for the first time in over 30 years, opportunity to make real reforms to the school lunch and breakfast programs by improving the critical nutrition and hunger safety net for millions of children” (United States Department of Agriculture, 2013).
The National School lunch program is a federally

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