Children get 1/3 of their calories from pizza, snacks, and desserts.
One-fourth of all vegetable consumption in the United States is in the form of french fries.
Children are more likely to eat foods that teachers, parents, and peers are eating.
Children will learn to prefer foods that are used as a reward.
Children are more likely to eat food they have grown and prepared themselves.
Students can consume up to 50% of their daily calories at school.
Removing low-nutrient foods from schools decreases student consumption overall.
Children under age 18 eat about 50% or less of USDA-recommended levels of fruit and vegetables.
Verbal encouragement in the lunch line increases consumption.
The National School Lunch Program serves 31 million lunches in 101,650 schools each day.
The School Breakfast Program serves 10.5 million breakfasts in 87,000 schools each day.
School lunch sales don't decline when meals are healthier; nutritious meals don't necessarily cost more to prepare.
School wellness policies can lead to significant improvements in nutritional quality of competitive foods.
Meals with added sugars, salt, sodium nitrites, and fat contribute to an increased risk for heart disease and diabetes.
The high salt content in processed foods contributes to high blood pressure, hypertension, and heart disease.
One-third of American children are overweight or obese.
The occurrence of high blood pressure and high cholesterol in children are dramatically increasing.