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School breakfast, lunch, summer programs and subsidized meals for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) are vital to the health and well-being of the nation’s children and adolescents, despite claims of links to obesity, according to an updated report.

Approximately one in six infants, children and adolescents live in homes that experience limited food supply, and half of all children participate in at least one nutrition assistance program during their first five years of life, according to the American Dietetic Association (ADA), which last week published an updated position paper on nutrition assistance for children to review the program’s effectiveness.

“Without these programs, millions of infants, children and adolescents in the U.S. may not reach their full developmental potential,” says the report, written by Jamie Stang, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota and Cynthia Taft Bayerl, nutrition coordinator at the nutrition physical activity and obesity program, Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

The findings appear to be in direct opposition to those presented in March at the American College of Cardiology by researchers at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, which found that more than one in three middle school students who regularly eat school lunches are obese or overweight because of high fat and sugar content. The findings also show that students who consume school lunches are more likely to have high LDL “bad” cholesterol levels than kids who bring lunch from home, according to WebMD.

“The school environment is an excellent opportunity we should not be missing to teach kids to make healthy choices, both in terms of food and exercise,” Elizabeth Jackson, M.D., assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Health System, told WebMD.

Recent data show that while an estimated 30.6 million U.S. students eat school lunches, only 6 percent of school lunch programs meet the requirements established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For example, the average sodium content was twice that recommended, and 80 percent of schools exceeded rules to keep fat to less than 30 percent of total calories.

Nevertheless, the ADA encourages nutrition assistance programs be made available to all eligible children and adolescents. To help combat obesity, school systems can take advantage of the ADA’s registered dietitians and dietetic technicians, who are uniquely qualified to develop, implement and evaluate nutrition assistance programs, the study says.

“Current participation in many programs is below 100 percent due to barriers which may include lengthy, complicated application procedures, fear of losing other financial assistance benefits, lack of incentives for organizations to offer such programs and lack of access to reliable transportation required to participate in programs and services,” according to the authors. “Incentives for schools, community agencies, religious organizations and other venues to provide summer meal programs and offer transportation to the programs should be implemented.”

The ADA’s position paper notes that many nutrition assistance programs face regular risk of inadequate or discontinued funding because of links to obesity and overweight students.

“Advocacy efforts are needed to ensure that all nutrition assistance programs are fully funded and reach all infants, children and adolescents who are eligible to participate,” the authors write.

School Meal Programs Vital To Children’s Health Despite Links To Obesity  was originally published on elev8.hellobeautiful.com