CHICAGO — Parents favor nutrition standards in school by a 3-to-1 margin, according to a new study conducted by The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), and the American Heart Association (AHA).
The national study asked more than 1,000 registered voters who have children enrolled in public schools about their attitudes toward school meals and health. The study was conducted late this summer, in the third year of implementation of school meal standards as required by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act and right as new rules regarding snacks and beverages sold in schools are being phased in.
Here are the findings from the study:
- 72% of respondents favor national standards in schools, with 50% strongly in favor of such regulations
- 72% of parents favor standards for snacks sold in schools
- 91% of parents support requiring that schools serve a fruit or vegetable with every meal
- 75% of respondents think salt should be limited in meals
- 80% of parents are concerned with the state of children’s health and 74% are concerned with childhood obesity.
- Parents do not have a favorable opinion of the healthfulness of snacks and beverages sold in schools. 69% said à la carte items were somewhat or not at all healthy, 72% said food items sold in school stores were somewhat or not at all healthy and 81% said this of items sold in vending machines.