Challenge

Prior to the 1996 reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, there was a growing desire to ensure school meals adhered to the US Department of Agriculture and Department of Health and Human Services’ Dietary Guidelines for Americans; but many school administrators and food service directors viewed such requirements as impossible to implement and were voicing opposition. 

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Intervention

Advocates for Better Children’s Diets, with support from fruit and vegetable organizations and the American Heart Association,

• Brought together 32 nutrition, consumer, and education groups to develop a guide that could demonstrate how many school food service operations nationwide were already meeting the Dietary Guidelines while maintaining participation and initiating innovative marketing techniques.

• Surveyed and analyzed responses from more than 100 schools nationwide that members from the Nutrition Education and Training Association identified as implementing in the school cafeteria.

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Outcome

• Published and distributed to 50 State and the District of Columbia Departments of Education and more than 500 schools and organizations, Making the Honor Role: A Community Action Guide to Improve Kids’ Diets through Child Nutrition Programs, which motivated schools nationwide to offer healthy meals to students through cost-effective methods and marketing techniques that increase participation. 

• Secured provisions in the 1996 Child Nutrition Act legislation that required school meals meet the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans.