U.S. school nutrition standards update: Study shows plant-based diets improve children's health

A recent study conducted by Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutritional Science and Policy found that while today's campus dining is significantly healthier than what American children ate before, there is still plenty of room for improvement, approx. A quarter of campus meals are considered to be of poor nutritional quality.


The study, recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, shows that updating nutritional standards could bring significant benefits to thousands of children as they transition into adulthood. It’s worth noting that this change could also lead to huge financial reserves, potentially saving billions of dollars in lifetime medical costs.

"On average, school meals are healthier than what American children eat from any other source, including at home," Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and professor of nutrition at the Friedman School, said in a statement. , but we are at a critical moment to further strengthen nutrition."

In fact, previous studies have found that 39% of U.S. teens ages 12 to 19 are overweight or obese; 53% have excess fat; 18% have symptoms of prediabetes; and 15% have high blood pressure. This means that children already exhibit risk factors strongly associated with early onset heart disease and stroke. Changing their eating habits is crucial.

If schools limited added sugars, ensured all cereals were whole grains, and reduced sodium intake in accordance with the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the study suggests more than 10,600 annual deaths from diet-related diseases could be prevented.

This change could save more than $19 billion in adult health care costs annually. The study's projections show that aligning school meals with the recommended added sugars, sodium and whole grains in the new Dietary Guidelines would have limited but important short-term health benefits for children.

Click to enter the details pag

评论

发表评论

此博客中的热门博文

Soy Fiber: The Invisible 'Hero' in Canned Foods

图片
 Soybean fiber is mainly derived from by - products generated during the soybean processing, such as soybean dregs and soybean skins. These materials, which were originally likely to be regarded as waste, have transformed into soybean fiber with a variety of excellent properties after a series of complex and sophisticated extraction processes. Currently, there are diverse extraction methods for soybean fiber, mainly including physical methods, chemical methods, and biological methods. In the large family of canned foods, whether it is delicious meat cans or fresh fruit and vegetable cans, soybean fiber plays an indispensable and important role in improving the quality and enhancing the nutrition of canned foods. Magical effects of soybean fiber in canned foods Improving Texture and Taste Soybean fiber has unique gel properties and extremely excellent oil - holding and water - retaining capabilities, and this characteristic is demonstrated most vividly in canned meat products. When ...
阅读全文

Emulsified Soy Protein Isolate: An Innovative Force in the Food Industry

图片
Emulsified soy protein isolate represents an innovative achievement in the field of soy protein isolates. It starts with high-quality soybeans and undergoes multiple meticulous purification processes to remove non-protein components such as fats and carbohydrates from the soybeans, resulting in an extremely pure soy protein. The finished product appears as a fine powder with uniform color and an exceptionally high protein content, typically exceeding 90%, far surpassing that of ordinary soy protein products. In terms of advantages, emulsified soy protein isolate boasts superior emulsification stability, rapidly forming a stable emulsion in oil-water systems and preventing oil droplet aggregation and layering. In baked goods, it effectively emulsifies fats, ensuring uniform internal structure, soft texture, and extended shelf life for products like bread and cakes. Its outstanding nutritional enhancement effect is also remarkable. As a high-quality plant protein, it is rich in essential...
阅读全文

The Role of Soy Fiber in Sauces

图片
Sauces play an indispensable role in our diet. Whether it is ketchup that adds color and flavor to dishes or meat sauce that gives dishes a unique flavor, they all add rich flavors to our dining tables with their unique charm. And soy fiber also plays a key role in these sauces, contributing to improving the quality and optimizing the taste of sauces. Thickening effect Soybean fiber can increase the viscosity of sauces, giving them an appropriate flowability and texture. For example, when making salad dressing, adding soy fiber enables the dressing to adhere better to the surface of vegetables. It won't be too thin and runny, thus enhancing the eating experience. In ketchup, it can also make the ketchup maintain a certain shape when squeezed out of the bottle and not quickly flow and deform. Improving taste Soy fiber can endow sauces with a rich taste. It can make the taste of the sauce more full-bodied and layered, avoiding a too single and plain taste. Take broad bean paste as an...
阅读全文