What are school kids eating in Chicago, and how does it measure up to government recommendations?
We looked at a typical month’s worth of meals for elementary-school children and found that the menus contained a variety of foods and fit the U.S. Department of Agriculture requirements in that each day contained items from all food groups.
But a computer analysis by the Tribune, using school data, showed an average fat content of the lunches to be well over 30 percent of calories, the amount suggested in the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
We computed the calories, fat, cholesterol and sodium for the five lunches offered in one typical week first with whole milk. Then we calculated the lunches with 2-percent and skim milk. The results, in the accompanying chart, show that just by switching to skim milk from whole milk, the fat content of lunches can be reduced dramatically.
Youngsters between ages 7 and 11 should get about 2,200 calories a day, no more than 2,500 milligrams of sodium and fewer than 300 milligrams of cholesterol. Using the skim milk results, the calories were not excessive, ranging from about 500 to 700, less than one-third the daily recommendation. Cholesterol also was well within the parameters for a lunch: from about 50 to 90 milligrams and less than one-third of the daily limit. The sodium, however, ranged from 800 to almost 1,400 milligrams, slightly more than what should come from a lunch, especially if there are other salty snacks eaten during the rest of the day, says Alica Moag-Stahlberg, a Chicago dietitian who has worked closely with children’s nutrition.
With skim milk the fat in the lunches averaged 33 percent of calories, but with 2-percent milk the totals climbed to 37 percent; whole milk boosted the fat to 40 percent of calories. Lunchroom managers report that many children choose whole and 2-percent milk (white and chocolate); a handful pick skim.
(Ironically, federal regulations-instituted after lobbying by the dairy industry-require whole milk be offered in all school lunches. Two-percent and skim milk options are not required, but many schools make them available.)
The week described-from Sept. 20 through 24-was typical of the period when the menu was studied and was selected at random. The fat totals were slightly lower than for a similar week in 1992 but other figures were relatively the same. Totals for Wednesday were computed on the basis of a regular hotdog. If the new low-fat hotdog now being used in some schools is substituted, the total fat for the Wednesday lunch with skim milk is reduced to about 21 percent of calories or 28 percent with whole milk.
Our calculations assumed that the students would eat everything on the menu, which often is not the case. The Chicago Board of Education’s policy-called “offer versus serve”-allows students to select fewer than the average five items, though each student must pick at least three. The price remains the same but the nutritional results can be affected severely.
For instance, if a student going through the cafeteria line on Friday picks only pizza, a cookie and whole milk-not an unlikely scenario-he or she will get no vegetables or fruit. Also the fat intake for those selections will be about 42 percent of calories, assuming whole milk. Other selections produce other results. Lunchroom managers report that vegetables are the foods most often omitted.
