School Food: The Missing Piece to Fixing Children's Health

America's children face an invisible health crisis driven by ultra-processed foods, with school meals identified as the most impactful lever for rapid, scalable change and improved health outcomes.

• Chronic disease is rapidly increasing in children, largely due to diets dominated by ultra-processed foods.

• Transforming school food systems is the most impactful way to improve children's health, academic performance, and overall well-being.

• Policy changes at local, state, and national levels, driven by grassroots efforts, are successfully removing harmful ingredients and paving the way for a real food future.

Children in America are facing an unprecedented health crisis, with nearly one in two suffering from a chronic disease, primarily due to diets high in ultra-processed foods. The average child today is projected to live sicker and shorter lives than their parents, with life expectancy for an obese child being 13 years less than a healthy child. Eat Real, a national nonprofit, is transforming school food systems by implementing rigorous, science-based standards, demonstrating that improving school meals, the largest restaurant chain in America, is the most effective way to stop disease before it starts, improve academic performance, and create healthier futures for kids.

Children's Health Crisis

• 00:00:05 For the first time in human history, the average child born today is projected to live sicker, shorter lives than their parents, with life expectancy for an obese child being 13 years less than a healthy child. This crisis is largely invisible, yet one in two children have a chronic disease, and 67% of American children's diets consist of highly processed foods, leading to issues beyond just obesity, including mental health problems and neurodevelopmental issues.

• 00:02:41 Almost one in two children in America currently has a chronic disease, with 67% of their diet stemming from highly processed or 'junk food,' which actively harms health. One in five children is obese, and 40% are overweight, leading to a projected one in two children being diabetic in their lifetime. This is not a matter of personal choice, but a systemic problem rooted in a toxic food landscape, influenced by politics, policies, and the food industry.

Schools as a Lever for Change

• 00:00:24 Schools are identified as the most significant leverage point to create health for children because they represent the largest 'restaurant chain' in America, serving 30 million children and providing 50% of their daily nutrition. Investing in school food systems to provide delicious, nourishing meals is a powerful strategy to halt the progression of diet-related diseases and improve children's overall well-being, learning, and growth.

• 00:07:08 Amidst various potential leverage points like hospitals and medical facilities, schools emerge as the 'big bet' for improving children's health due to their unparalleled reach, serving 30 million kids and providing half of their nutrition through 7 billion meals annually. This makes schools a critical nutrition security net, impacting not only physical health but also intellectual capital and neurological development, as poor nutrition hinders learning and focus.

Eat Real's Transformative Approach

• 00:19:10 Eat Real transforms school food systems by assessing programs against 10 rigorous science-based standards and then assisting food service directors with a tailored action plan. This involves removing harmful ingredients, reducing sugar, and introducing real, delicious food, leading to increased school meal participation and positive changes in children's health.

• 00:20:49 Eat Real supports 'food heroes' in schools across 20 states, doubling its impact from 500,000 to a million children by providing playbooks, registered dietitians, nutritionists, doctors, and connecting them with local suppliers and a community of change-makers. The program offers certification, celebrates achievements, and encourages continuous improvement, fostering a business model where real food actually saves money and increases participation as kids enjoy the healthier, tastier options.

Impact on Learning and Behavior

• 00:13:33 Research conducted with USC and LA Children's and Dr. Goran indicates that introducing real food in schools leads to increased academic performance and test scores, as improved nutrition enhances focus and mental clarity. Eliminating 34 pounds of sugar per student per year, which is typical in Eat Real schools, allows children to better concentrate and learn.

• 00:14:00 The impact of diet on cognitive function and behavior is significant, as demonstrated by a 12-year-old with severe ADD whose condition dramatically improved within two months after switching to a real food diet and addressing nutritional deficiencies. Similarly, a teacher observed that her students focused better in math class and reported feeling more nourished after the school switched to healthy breakfasts, reducing sugar and offering options like egg bites instead of sugary cereals.

Overcoming Industry Obstacles

• 00:23:00 The food industry propagates myths that healthy eating is expensive, elitist, and complicated, often making food choices confusing for families and co-opting school cafeterias with processed junk. This propaganda creates significant barriers to systemic change, as seen with examples like ketchup being classified as a vegetable or politicians lobbying to keep pizza as a 'healthy' school food option.

• 00:48:48 Changing policy for healthier school food faces major pushback and 'not cool' tactics from the food industry, which asserts that healthier options are too complicated, costly, and unappealing to children. However, Eat Real counters these claims by showcasing successful implementations in numerous schools where harmful dyes and excessive sugar have been removed, demonstrating increased participation and positive outcomes, thereby proving that systemic change is feasible and beneficial.

Policy Successes and Future Goals

• 00:47:19 Eat Real has significantly influenced policy, advocating for and passing the first-ever sugar bill in America's history for kids in California, which then informed the USDA's national sugar reduction initiative for all 30 million students. Additionally, the organization helped pass the first food dye bill in California and West Virginia, and most recently, AB 1264 in California, defining and preventing the sale of harmful ultra-processed foods in schools.

• 00:51:17 The recently passed California bill, AB 1264, is groundbreaking as it's the first to define harmful ultra-processed foods and restrict their sale in schools. This bipartisan success, achieved despite significant food industry opposition, serves as a powerful model. Eat Real aims to scale its impact to 3 million children in 30 states within three years, believing this momentum will catalyze national policy changes and transform the entire food system for all 30 million students who depend on school meals.