For the first time, Chicago Public Schools are offering free breakfast to nearly every student. Research has shown kids learn better when their stomachs aren’t empty. But some nutrition experts warn that the sugary processed foods city schools feed children are setting them up for unhealthy habits and other problems.
City schools allow students to choose three items for breakfast, and one of them can always be a doughnut served by the district’s main provider.
A Yale University professor said his research suggests that if sweets aren’t offered, kids will eat the healthier options.
Kelly Brownell found that kids given a high-sugar cereal ate twice the recommended amount. Those given a low-sugar cereal still ate it, and in the recommended amount.
“What this study suggests is that the school system should just offer healthy choices, and then children will eat them. I see no excuse for the public schools feeding children cereals or other products that are high in sugar,” Brownell said.
Chicago schools’ food service director Louise Esaian defended the breakfasts, saying: “All of the menus served in Chicago Public Schools meet requirements established by the (U.S. Department of Agriculture). In the majority of our schools, students are offered a choice at breakfast.”
She, however, did not mention that those choices include sugary pastries.
In fact, Chicago parents could be forgiven for not knowing doughnuts are served.
The word doughnut never appears on any city school breakfast menu the Tribune examined. Instead, the menus say MVP Breakfast, the product’s brand name.
Most often, Chicago students pair doughnuts with Frosted Flakes, Corn Pops, Froot Loops, French toast or Pop-Tarts. Two of these sweets with juice can give a student 48 grams of sugar — most of it added sugar — in one sitting. The American Heart Association recommends capping added sugar at 25 grams for adult women and 37.5 for men per day.
But even the staunchest health advocate would acknowledge that a sugary breakfast is better than no breakfast at all, a reality many city kids face.
Still, “it’s better to serve only things that are good for them and to educate their population to eat better instead,” said Dr. Richard Levy, a pediatric endocrinologist at Rush University Medical Center.
School food service managers often defend their meals by saying they meet USDA standards. But even the USDA considers those standards outdated, which is why it asked the Institutes of Medicine to offer revisions.
The new recommendations, which came out last month, cap sodium and calories for the first time while requiring more whole grains, fruits and vegetables. If the new rules are adopted, advocates say, they should help reduce schools’ reliance on sugary processed foods.
