The food and beverages sold in schools have significant impact on teenager’s diets and weight as nearly a quarter of their daily caloric intake comes from snacks.

To ensure proper nutrition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture raised the bar for food and beverages sold to students at school by implementing what is known as Smart Snacks in School. Smart Snacks applies to all food and beverages sold to students outside of the National School Lunch Program and the National School Breakfast Program during the school day. It covers the entire school day which is defined as midnight before to 30 minutes after the end of the school day. Smart Snacks does not apply to food provided to students during the school day, such as class party celebrations and it does not cover evening or weekend events.

Currently, students at Marshalltown High School can purchase food and beverages in compliance with Smart Snacks from vending machines, school stores, a la carte lines and in-school fundraising. This is an important part of promoting healthier options while kids are in school because well-nourished students are better prepared to learn.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 requires that snacks must: (1) be a “whole grain rich” grain product (2) have as the first ingredient a fruit, a vegetable, a dairy product or a protein food (3) be a combination food that contains at least 1/4 cup of fruit and/or vegetable (4) must meet the nutrient standards for calories, sodium, sugar and fats. For beverages, all schools may sell plain water, plain low-fat milk, plain or flavored fat-free milk and 100 percent fruit/vegetable juice.

Marshalltown School Nutrition Services is fully committed to ensuring compliance with the Smart Snacks standards. To strengthen our efforts, we have put into place a school wellness policy to align wellness within the entire school environment, not just the cafeteria. Snacks and beverages provided during the school day outside of the nutrition programs (e.g. class parties) must also meet nutrition standards for classroom snacks and celebrations as determined by the school wellness policy. These policies put all food and beverages sold to students across the district on a level playing field. In addition to the wellness policy, the district also has a wellness committee in place that parents, students and other community members are welcome to participate in.

Cookies, candy, full sugar soda and other junk food are a thing of the past and have been replaced with items like whole-grain granola bars, baked chips, yogurt, fruit cups and plain water. By implementing consistent nutrition standards throughout all corners of the school district, we are enhancing the learning environment for our students and establishing lifelong healthy eating habits.

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Michelle Mitchell is Nutrition

Supervisor with Marshalltown Schools.