The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is raising concerns that a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) school meals proposed rule could weaken nutrition standards and undercut the fight against diabetes.

Meals served by the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program today must follow meal patterns that ensure sound, balanced nutrition, based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. However, USDA is proposing changes to those meal patterns, requiring lower amounts of red or orange vegetables in school lunches and less fruit when schools operate innovative Breakfast in the Classroom programs. The proposed rule would also loosen Smart Snacks rules governing the sale of other food sold in schools.

“The ADA has worked to enact and implement sound, evidence-based standards for school meals and snacks–in part because of their potential impact on prevention of type 2 diabetes and diabetes complications,” said LaShawn McIver, MD, MPH ADA’s Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Advocacy. “Overweight and obesity are principal risk factors for type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, and obesity in childhood and adolescence predicts risk for obesity later in life.^{1 2} That makes school nutrition vital to reducing the number of Americans who develop type 2 diabetes. We urge USDA to rescind harmful proposed changes to the Smart Snacks rules and meal pattern requirements.”

The proposed changes to Smart Snacks rules would allow sale of certain a-la-carte items for up to three days a week. According to Shamera Robinson, MPH, RDN, Associate Director of Nutrition for the ADA, “This change would enable children to more frequently skip balanced lunches and breakfasts, in favor of less healthful choices on the a-la-carte line.”

The proposed rule was released just days following a new Journal of the American Medical Association study found that children in states implementing Smart Snacks rules consumed fewer calories from added sugar and solid fat. ³

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