T HE HEALTHY, HUNGER-FREE KIDS ACT (HHFKA) OF 2010 required the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to create updated school meal and competitive food standards that aligned with the concurrent (2010) version of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The resulting regulations significantly strengthened the nutrition standards for school breakfast and lunch, and introduced new nutrition standards for foods sold outside of the school meal program during the school day (ie, Smart Snacks in School). Further, the USDA articulated new expectations for local school wellness policies such as limiting student exposure to unhealthy food marketing and increasing district accountability for policy implementation and progress toward goals. Implementation of the strengthened school meal nutrition standards was designed to occur in stages. Several key changes went into effect at the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year, including increases in the availability and portion sizes of fruits and vegetables, limits to total calories per meal, and the removal of trans fats. The new regulations concerning whole grains and sodium were phased in more slowly. Half of the grains served in lunches were required to be at least 50% whole grain (ie, whole-grain rich) in 2012; by 2014-2015, all grains needed to meet this standard. The sodium limits were scheduled to be phased in over 10 years: Target 1 during the 2014-2015 school year, Target 2 during 2017-2018, and Target 3 during 2022-2023. Target 3 reached the Institute of Medicine (2004) recommendations based on Tolerable Upper Intake limits by age group. Despite their original efforts to implement changes gradually, during 2018 the USDA reversed course and weakened some of the school meal standards. Notably, they reverted the required quantity of whole-grain-rich foods from 100% to 50% of grains offered. They also delayed the Target 1 and Target 2 sodium standards until the 2023-2024 and 20242025 school years, respectively, and eliminated the Target 3 sodium standard. The USDA reported that these changes were in response to concerns expressed by program operators. Specifically, there were concerns that providing healthier foods to students would result in increased food waste in the cafeteria. There were also worries that schools would lose money from the potentially higher costs of healthier foods and/or decreased school meal participation rates. An additional reason cited for the rollbacks was that the food industry needed more time to develop new products to meet the stronger nutrition standards. However, as discussed below, there is accumulating evidence to suggest that these concerns may be unfounded.

中文翻译：

---

《健康、无饥饿儿童法案》的成功记录和未来潜力

2010 年《健康、无饥饿儿童法案》(HHFKA) 要求美国农业部 (USDA) 制定更新的学校膳食和竞争性食品标准，以与同期 (2010) 版《美国人膳食指南》保持一致。由此产生的法规显着加强了学校早餐和午餐的营养标准，并对在校期间在学校供餐计划之外出售的食品（即学校智能零食）引入了新的营养标准。此外，美国农业部还阐明了对当地学校健康政策的新期望，例如限制学生接触不健康食品营销以及加强学区对政策实施和目标进展的责任。强化学校膳食营养标准的实施旨在分阶段进行。2012-2013 学年伊始，多项重大变化生效，包括增加水果和蔬菜的供应量和份量、限制每餐总热量以及取消反式脂肪。有关全谷物和钠的新规定的实施速度较慢。2012年，午餐中提供的谷物中有一半必须是至少50%的全谷物（即富含全谷物）；到2014-2015年，所有粮食均需达到这一标准。钠限制计划在 10 年内分阶段实施：目标 1 在 2014-2015 学年期间，目标 2 在 2017-2018 学年期间，目标 3 在 2022-2023 学年期间。目标 3 达到了医学研究所 (2004) 基于各年龄组可耐受摄入量上限的建议。尽管美国农业部最初努力逐步实施变革，但在 2018 年却改变了方针，削弱了部分学校膳食标准。值得注意的是，他们将富含全谷物食品的所需数量从所提供谷物的 100% 恢复到 50%。他们还将目标1和目标2钠标准分别推迟到2023-2024和20242025学年，并取消了目标3钠标准。美国农业部报告称，这些变化是为了回应计划运营商表达的担忧。具体来说，有人担心向学生提供更健康的食物会导致食堂的食物浪费增加。还有人担心，学校可能会因健康食品的成本上升和/或学校供餐参与率下降而蒙受损失。推迟的另一个原因是食品行业需要更多时间来开发新产品以满足更严格的营养标准。然而，如下所述，越来越多的证据表明这些担忧可能没有根据。