success stories Making the school day healthier in New Mexico

State/Region
New Mexico
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Children and youth can receive up to 50 percent of their daily calories at school, and for some kids, the only reliable meals they have are in school. With those facts in mind, education and health advocates in New Mexico have adopted a state rule fully aligning that state’s school snack policies with the federal government’s new nutrition guidelines. The result is that students in New Mexico now have access to snacks during the school day that are primarily whole grains, fruit, vegetable, dairy or a protein.The new standards will ensure that only foods and beverages which meet the federal nutrition guidelines will be sold to students during the school day.

The new policy also puts in place strict requirements related to fundraising through the use of food. Any fundraiser that does not follow the new restrictions may only be held one time per semester or trimester and only at the discretion of the principal or charter school director.The policy is designed to not only provide students with healthy foods during the school day, and thus help to strengthen their physical and educational health, but also to create healthy eating habits that they will carry with them for a lifetime.

When one considers the vast array of unhealthy snacks that Americans are confronted with on a daily basis — one study found that the average American gets 27 percent of his or her total daily energy from junk foods — the new policy is not only good for students, but an investment in the future health of the nation.To help ensure the new policy is implemented smoothly, the New Mexico Public Education Department is working directly with schools to help implement the new standards.


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