School Lunches Lack Whole Grains Despte Intentions

MINNEAPOLIS - A new University of Minnesota study shows that while most nutrition experts agree that school lunches should include more whole-grain products, food service workers lack understanding and resources to achieve the goal.

The study involved Minnesota school food-service directors and appears in the latest issue of the Journal of Child Nutrition and Management.

Because they serve so many meals to children each day, School food-service directors have a major influence on students’ food choices due to the sheer volume of meals, and therefore influence their overall health.

Most experts recommend at least three servings of whole-grain foods a day, but children in the U.S. fall short of that goal, averaging about one serving per day.

The U of M researchers found food-service workers are aware of the health benefits of whole-grain foods, but aren’t always sure whether a food product meets whole-grain criteria. The directors cited higher costs and difficulty finding vendors who sold whole-grain products.

The latest study is part of an ongoing series in which researchers from the university are measuring awareness of whole grains and testing ways to incorporate them into children’s diets, particularly in school nutrition programs.

“The goal is to remove confusion surrounding the definition of a whole-grain food and to provide simple standards to follow when ordering whole grain products for school meals,” said Len Marquart, the project’s lead researcher and an assistant professor in the university’s food science and nutrition department. “This will require working together--enhanced communication among vendors, distributors and manufacturers along with key players in government, industry and school foodservice.”