Health Concerns

California’s Improved School Lunches May Actually Be Working!

Jamie Oliver wuz here...
Jamie Oliver wuz here… Photo: USDAGov via Flickr

No matter how much the students of LAUSD bitch and moan about their cafeteria’s pad thai and black bean burgers, changes in the state’s school system that limit students’ access to fat and calories and a ban on soda has apparently lead to promising health improvements in California students. The Washington Post reports on a recent study of 700 teens that finds Cali kids are consuming an average of 158 fewer calories a day, both in and out of school, than their out-of-state counterparts, a reduction that goes well over the targeted trimming of 64 calories that could help lower the obesity rate.

California’s ten-year-old laws that reduce sugar and fat intake in school diets are the strictest in the country, and are getting a shot of validation following the findings. It’s great to see a dent potentially put in the country’s obesity problem, considering half of us could be tubby by 2030. And yes, it’s even more exciting to see something actually work for a change within our public school system! [WP]

California’s Improved School Lunches May Actually Be Working!