Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

Here is a great story about a school district that started serving healthy school lunches back in 1995. The administrators and lunch workers suffered through complaining and even a high school petition wanting the unhealthy food back. Now, they seem like they were ahead of the game.

• Alabama News – When it comes to healthy school lunches, Opelika ahead of game

This article mentions that the first year of the change was the hardest. Many of the children started brown bagging it, but the second year, the numbers grew to levels higher than before the change. Now, 90% of the students eat the school lunch.

Best Quote:

“Ms. Payne cautions that it takes time to convince kids to eat a new item — 10 exposures are usually necessary; and it helps if the cafeteria staff can be enlisted to help ‘sell’ the food with a smile.”

Via: CalorieLab Calorie Counter News – Pioneering healthy school lunches — 10 years ago