School lunches: Students protest less portions, rising nutrition

School lunches are changing due to new federal guidelines requiring school districts to serve more grains, fruits, and veggies. Michelle Obama promoted "Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010," which touts these changes but students are not thrilled.

By Jim McLaughlin,?Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / September 21, 2012

Nutritional content in school lunches is rising - like this healthy chicken salad in the lunch line of the cafeteria at Draper Middle School in Rotterdam, N.Y., Sept. 11, 2012 - yet student support for these changes is declining.

AP Photo/Hans Pennink

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By 7 a.m. Monday, senior Nick Blohm already had burned about 250 calories in the Mukwonago High School weight room.

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He grabbed a bagel and a Gatorade afterward; if he eats before lifting, he gets sick.

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That was followed by eight periods in the classroom, and then three hours of football practice. By the time he headed home, he had burned upward of 3,000 calories ? his coach thinks the number is even higher.

But the calorie cap for his?school lunch? 850 calories.

?A lot of us are starting to get hungry even before the practice begins,? Blohm said. ?Our metabolisms are all sped up.?

Following new federal guidelines, school districts nationwide have retooled their menus to meet new requirements to serve more whole grains, only low-fat or nonfat milk, daily helpings of both fruits and vegetables, and fewer sugary and salty items. And for the first time, federal funds for school lunches mandate age-aligned calorie maximums. The adjustments are part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 touted by Michelle Obama and use the updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The changes are hard to swallow for students like Blohm. On Monday, 70 percent of the 830 Mukwonago High students who normally buy lunch boycotted cafeteria food to protest what they see as an unfair ?one size fits all thing.? Middle schoolers in the district also boycotted their school lunches, with counts down nearly half Monday. They?re not alone in their frustration; schools across the country are reporting students who are unhappy with the lunch offerings.

The sub sandwich line at Mukwonago High used to let students pile veggies on a six-inch French bread bun. Options now include a fist-sized whole wheat roll or multigrain wrap, and the once popular line is now mostly empty.

The healthier food is less the issue than the portions.

?A freshman girl who weighs 100 pounds can eat this lunch and feel completely full, maybe even a little bloated,? said Joey Bougneit, a Mukwonago, Wis., senior.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/D86XmzjC37g/School-lunches-Students-protest-less-portions-rising-nutrition

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