Junk food is a staple in America’s school cafeterias, but a new map has revealed which states serve the least nutritious lunches.
Louisiana has the worst level in the country, based on several factors, including the amount of fruits and vegetables consumed by students from kindergarten through high school.
The state is followed by Idaho, where the most popular lunch is a pizza and cheeseburger, and Wyoming, where students prefer chicken nuggets.
On the other hand, Massachusetts has the healthiest lunches, thanks in part to schools incorporating fresh, local foods into their meals.
Massachusetts has the healthiest school lunches in the country, according to data from ProCare Therapy, followed by Maine and Hawaii. Louisiana has the unhealthiest countries, followed by Idaho and Wyoming.
Maine is second healthiest, followed by Hawaii, according to a report from ProCare Therapy, a school health company.
The report comes as the United States seeks to reform its school lunches because many of the meals offered to students have been considered unhealthy and full of junk ingredients, some of which have been linked to cancer.
ProCare determined its rankings based on factors such as students’ consumption of fruits, vegetables, and sugary drinks, the number of National School Lunch Program lunches served per 10,000 children, and a state’s participation in the Farm to School program, in which schools purchase and they use fresh, locally produced ingredients.
The National School Lunch Program is a federally assisted meal program that provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children.
ProCare used farm-to-school (F2S) census data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH).
These factors were combined to create a school lunch index score out of a possible 100 points, with higher scores representing healthier school lunches.
The findings revealed that Hawaii has the highest participation in the Farm to School program, with 11 percent of the state’s school district participating in a program.
Louisiana, Idaho, Wyoming, New Mexico and Alaska were the bottom five states, with fewer than 42 points each.
Louisiana’s lack of participation in the Farm to School program and lower percentage of meals served by the NSLP contributed to its low scores.
Louisiana schoolchildren also received fewer fruits and vegetables than students in other states.
Poor nutrition at lunch could be a contributing factor to the high rate of childhood obesity in Louisiana. The state has the third-highest rate of obesity in children ages 10 to 17 in the U.S., according to statesman 2021 data.
In addition to nutrition, the analysis also found the most popular school food in each state using Google search data.
In Massachusetts, considered the state with the healthiest school lunches, the most popular item was pizza. In Louisiana it was fried chicken.
The report comes as a campaign was launched to ban popular lunchtime product Lunchables from free school meals after watchdog group Consumer Reports found they contained high levels of sodium.
“Lunches are not a healthy option for children and should not be allowed on the menu as part of the National School Lunch Program,” said Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports.
A cafeteria worker prepares lunchables for lunch at a school in Pembroke, North Carolina.
ProCare determined its ranking based on factors such as meals served in accordance with federal nutrition guidelines and participation rate in the Farm to School program, which is a program through which schools purchase and include locally produced, farm-fresh foods. on their menus.
He added: ‘The Lunchables and similar lunch kits we tested contain worrying levels of sodium and harmful chemicals that can lead to serious health problems over time.
“The USDA should remove Lunchables from the National School Lunch Program and ensure that children in schools have healthier options.”
Lunchables created two new versions of its kit especially for school lunch programs in the U.S. last year, but the new report found they contain even more salt than the Lunchables kits customers can get at grocery stores.
The school cafeteria version of Lunchables was found to contain between 460 and 740 milligrams per serving, which is “nearly a quarter to a half of a child’s recommended daily sodium limit” — no more than 1,500 mg per day for four to eight years. year old.
Consumer Reports found that the school variety of Turkey and Cheddar Lunchables contained 930 mg of sodium, while the store-bought version contained 740 mg.
Rising cancer rates among young people have also been linked to a higher prevalence of ultra-processed foods.
An analysis of CDC data recently found that colorectal cancers have increased up to six-fold in children ages 10 to 14 since 2000.
In 2020, only 0.6 children ages 10 to 14 per 100,000 residents were diagnosed with colorectal cancer compared to 0.1 per 100,000 in 1999, an increase of 500 percent.
