Fourteen years is a long time. In this period of time, many of us have:

• upgraded our cell phone, computer hardware, and software several times.

• gotten married, delivered babies and have raised them up to puberty.

• moved into the digital age, set up our blogs, and expanded our social media.

• updated our knowledge of parenting, the environment, and nutrition.

In the meantime, obesity has become an epidemic, even among children, and smoking bans are in place almost everywhere. Very few things have remained unchanged during the last 14 years. And one of them is the US Nutrition Standards and Meal Requirements for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). No kidding! The standards have been in place in 1995 and haven’t been updated ever since.

In July this year, Joan Blades of MomsRising.org challenged moms to take the following test

Which of the following is considered a junk food according to national school nutrition standards?

• A. Hi-C Blast – vitamin fortified sugar water

• B. Poland Springs seltzer water – water with bubbles

• C. French fries

• D. Candy Bars

I am sure most, if not all of us, got it wrong by just using our common sense. The correct answer is – brace yourself – B water. No, this isn’t a joke. Based on the current nutritional standards, it is the only item on the list that does not contain any vitamins or minerals. If you think this is all rubbish, then you are not alone. In fact, MomsRising prepared a petition to the Congress to “update outdated nutrition standards immediately to ensure our schools provide healthy food for our children.”

It seems that their prayers have been answered. Earlier this week, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released the report School Meals: Building Blocks for Healthy Children which reviewed the NSLP as well as the US School Breakfast Program (SBP). And on top of the list of the IOM recommendations are: more fruits and vegetables! The recommendations are aiming to be consistent with 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans set by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and US Department of Agriculture (USDA). In general terms, the IOM committee advise to take the following into consideration in menu planning:

• increase the amount and variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

• set a minimum and maximum level of calories.

• increase the focus on reducing the amounts of saturated fat and sodium provided.

Here’s what the changes, if ever implemented will bring:

• An increase in the amount of fruit offered in school breakfast to 1 cup per day for all students

• An increase in the amount of fruit offered in school lunch to 1 cup per day for students in grades 9-12

• An increase in the amount of vegetables offered in school lunch to ¾ cup per day for grades K-8 and to 1 cup per day for grades 9-12

• An acknowledgment that improving the nutritional value of school meals by increasing servings of fruits, vegetables and whole grains will increase the cost of breakfast by 25% and lunch by 9%

• A requirement that students take at least one serving of fruit at breakfast and at least one serving of fruit or vegetable at lunch.

• A reduction in sweetened beverages to be replaced by water, low-fat or nonfat milk, and unsweetened fruit juices.

With these recommendations, the answer to the above question completely changes. In fact, our common sense was right in the first place. Let’s hope it won’t take another 14 years for the recommendations to be implemented…

The IOM report comes in a timely manner. Oct 5 was National Child Health Day and Oct 12 to 16 was National School Lunch Week.

September marks several nutrition-related health observances and I would like to take this opportunity to touch on family nutrition. Specifically, the most common questions that parents ask regarding their children’s diet.

How much fruit and vegetables do children need?

We all know that our kids need fruit and veggies and we struggle everyday, trying to win the feeding/eating war. But do we know how much our kids really need? The common nutritional advice is that we need 5 servings of fresh fruit and veggies each day. Easy enough except that how big is a serving? Is a serving the same for a child and for an adult? The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) has a great tool in calculating the amount of fruit and veggies everybody above the age of 2 needs. By just entering your age, gender, and physical activity, you get your personal food requirements result in terms of cups. What’s more, it even tells you what amounts to a cup. Finally, the sites also has recipes, and features “Fruit and Veggies” of the month. It’s chili peppers and figs for September.

Which products should you buy?

Starting August, the food industry in the US has adapted the so-called green checkmark. The checkmark is part of Smart Choices Program, a US-wide collaboration of scientists, health advocates and food industry representatives to help consumers make healthier choices at the supermarket.

In order to use the green checkmark, food products need to meet certain criteria (Nutrition Criteria for the Smart Choices Program) set by Smart Choices. The program is implemented by the American Society for Nutrition, which also makes sure of maintaining the scientific integrity of the program and checking for conflicts of interest. The standards for the greencheck are based on:

• Nutrients that need to be limited, e.g. fats, sugar, and sodium

• Nutrients that need to be enforced, e.g. vitamins, minerals, and fiber)

• Food groups that to be encouraged, e.g. fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fat-free dairy products

All in all, the criteria cover 19 categories for products found in the supermarket, including cereals, processed fruits and vegetables, breads and pasta, meat, dairy, snacks, and sauces and dressings.

In addition to the greencheck mark, the food manufacturer is already required to display on the front of the package the calorie per serving and the number of servings per package to help us keep to our daily calorie needs.

Do we need to restrict our kids’ diet?

Forbidding certain types of food has high chances of backfiring, according to a study by obesity experts at Pennsylvania State University. It seems that the key factor in weight control is a child’s inhibitory control, which is similar to self-control. Those who lack self-regulation are most likely to be overweight before the age of 15. Low self-control combined with strong parental restriction seem to be a dangerous combination that drives the child towards the forbidden, and therefore more attractive food. Tips to reinforce your child’s inhibitory control are:

• Do not keep restricted food in the house, thus lessening the necessity to “forbid.”

• Find healthier alternatives, e.g. sugar-free or fat-free version of the forbidden snacks (see below).

• Provide different choices. Rather than telling your child “eat this, eat that”, it is better to ask “which would you prefer, the pear or the apple?” Take him/her to the supermarket and allow him to choose something that meets certain criteria (such as the abovementioned greecheckmark). By giving your child the right to choose within certain limits, you give him/her some degree of control over his/her diet.

What about snacks?

Snacking is not that bad. A recent study shows that many of the snacks that kids love – including popcorn – actually contains lots of antioxidants called polyphenols. And whole grain cereals, in addition to fibers, have comparable antioxidant content to fruit and vegetables. However, it is easy to binge on snacks and cereals, according to the researchers. Breakfast cereals contain lots of sugar and salty snacks contain lots of sodium. The key therefore is moderation and keeping to the suggested serving sizes.