Lunchpower means healthier meals for Minnesota kids

low-fat school lunch program; includes a rap song about the lunch program

The American "power lunch" may be big in the business world, but for Minnesota schoolchildren LUNCHPOWER is becoming the way to "do" lunch.

LUNCHPOWER is the name of a Minnesota project that's designed to help schools serve lunches that are lower in fat and sodium.

What gives LUNCHPOWER its punch is a set of carerfully developed recipes that modifies the way schools prepare children's favorites and goes on from there.

Originally pilot-tested in four school districts and now being expanded to NSLP schools statewide, the project is also aimed at helping children become accustomed to making healthy food choices.

Helping children by helping schools

Concern about children's health was what inspired Minnesota health professionals, nutritionists, and education officials to begin working together 5 years ago on the project that evolved into LUNCHPOWER.

With more than 460,000 school lunch customers daily in Minnesota , it was clear that modifying school meals would be an excellent way to reach large numbers of children and have a long-term impact on their health.

Worked together to set goals

Representatives from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, the Minnesota Department of Education, the American Heart Association Minnesota Affiliate, and the Minnesota Beef Council and other industry worked together on the project.

Their goal was to come up with a monthly school lunch menu that would average no more than 30 percent of calories from fat. They began by establishing criteria for maximum levels of fat and sodium. And, to make sure meals would provide adequate amounts of energy, they also established calorie requirements.

For the pilot test, they set a goal of having lunches average--over a 1-month period--no more than 22 grams of fat and 1,000 milligrams of sodium per day. The calorie goal was 550-800 calories per lunch.

The group's decision to focus on reducing rat and sodium in consistent withe the Dietary Guidelines for Americans--developed jointly by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services--and with the improvements in nutritional quality USDA is encouraging NSLP schools to make nationwide.

Recipes collected, modified, and tested

Translating LUNCHPOWER goals into action involved several steps, including:

* modifying school lunch recipes and testing them with students;

* identifying low-fat, low-sodium food products, including products schools purchase from vendors as well as those schools receive free through USDA's commodity distribution program;

* and devising a plan to integrate these recipes and products into school lunch programs.

Working together to do this were staff from the Minnesota 's Department of Education's child nutrition section; food and nutrition specialists from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health; and food service directors of four diverse school districts--one rural, one small city, and two suburban.

In each school district, food service directors identified recipes that exceeded the nutrientt criteria for fat and sodium, and worked with dietitians and cook managers to analyze and modify them.

The modified school lunch recipes were taste-tested by groups of students, food service staff, and teachers, and 75 were adopted for use in LUNCHPOWER menus.

Team look at food products

An important part of the evaluation group's work was looking at food products. Project coordinators asked manufacturers to provide nutrient information on the amount of fat, sodium, and calories for approximately 200 school food products.

Although they also asked for specifies on the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol, this information was often not available.

If products were too high in fatt or sodium to be included in LUNCHPOWER menus, team members worked with the manufacturer to identify other alternatives.

Pilot testing was successful

LUNCHPOWER was tested in 34 elementary schools in the 4 participating districts during 5 months in 1991--with good results.

The kids didn't see a big difference and participation stayed about the same.

But parents raved when they saw the menus and read about our program to improve nutrition. We proved it's possible to have a tasty lower-in-fat and lower-in-sodium school lunch.

Pilot schools did not report a significant increase in the cost of food or production. But a few parents said they wouldn't mind paying more for the healthier meals. "I don't care how much you raise prices," said one. "I like the menus."

After the pilot testing, the project team assembled a manual that outlined how any school could adapt LUNCHPOWER to its own situation. The Beef Industry Council printed 10,000 copies of the manual and is distributing it, free of charge, to schools and other organizations interested in improving meals served to children.

In enhancing LUNCHPOWER, the state staff included a number of recommendations to help schools achieve the goal of having no more than 330 percent of calories from fat.

They also adjusted the calorie requirements from 550-800 calories--used in the pilot test--to 600-750 calories and recommended that approximately 55 percent of these calories should come from carbohydrates.

In addition, they changed the maximum daily average for fat to 20- 25 grams per lunch (it had been 22 grams in the pilot test). And they advised schools to pay attention not only to the amount of fat, but also the sources of fat, avoiding saturated fat as much as possible.