School lunches get better marks

Saturday, May 10, 2003 Posted: 1:11 PM EDT (1711 GMT)

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Schools have improved the nutritional value of lunches in the last decade, but the meals continue to contain more fat than the government recommends, congressional auditors say.

In a review of 22 schools nationwide during the 1998-99 academic year, the General Accounting Office found that three-fourths of them were serving lunches containing 34 percent fat. That's higher than the 30 percent fat content standard set by the Agriculture Department, which oversees the lunch program.

"While most schools have reduced the average percent of calories from fat in school lunches, few have met the required goal for fat content," auditors said Friday in a report commissioned by Sens. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Richard Lugar, R-Indiana.

Still, it's an improvement over the 1991-92 school year when meals contained 38 percent fat, according to the GAO, the investigative arm of Congress.

Despite the high fat content in lunches, cholesterol levels have dropped. Elementary school meals had 68 milligrams of cholesterol in 1999, a 19 percent drop from 1992. High school meals saw a similar decrease during the period, from 95 milligrams to 75 milligrams. Those levels are both below the recommended 100 milligrams.

The government says 13 percent of children are overweight, and the problem is growing. Some consumer advocates argue the lunches are compounding the problem, but the Agriculture Department defends the program, which feeds 27 million children every school day.

With the school lunch program up for renewal this year, advocates want Congress to increase government oversight of foods sold outside the lunch line -- including in vending machines. But they face resistance from some schools that depend on revenue from vending machine sales to pay for student activities or items not covered by their budgets.

Schools are progressing, Harkin said, "but the federal government has a responsibility to ensure that the investments we make in the school lunch program -- some $6 billion per year -- are not compromised by the sales of less-nutritious food elsewhere on school grounds."

Karen Johnson, vice president of the American School Food Service Association, said school cooks are making improvements but could use a little more help from the government.

"Low-fat foods -- they're expensive," she said. "I just think that the reimbursement is not keeping up with what we need to put on the plate."

The report also found lunches in 1998-99 had too much salt. The meals in elementary schools had 1,285 milligrams, and high school lunches had 1,502 milligrams -- more than the recommended 800 milligrams.

Vitamin C levels also were high. Elementary pupils were served meals containing 37 milligrams, while high school lunches had 42 milligrams. The government recommends 18.

Auditors said the Agriculture, Health and Human Services and Education departments should make a plan to promote nutrition education. Overall, the three agencies have said they agree with the report.