SCHOOL LUNCH - A COMPARISON OF THE FAT AND CHOLESTEROL CONTENT WITH DIETARY GUIDELINES

Objective: To compare the fat and cholesterol content of the foods off ered and selected in an elementary school lunch program with current d ietary guidelines. Design: For 105 school days we recorded the food it ems selected by elementary school students in an entire school distric t (262,851 meals) who were given a choice between two entrees. The nut rient content of foods was assessed with a computerized nutrient data base supplemented by the food manufacturers' data. Setting: Sixteen el ementary schools in the Bellevue (Washington) School District. Partici pants: The number of students eating school lunch averaged 2500 per da y, of whom 25% were from households with incomes less than 185% of pov erty. Intervention: None. Main outcome measures: We determined the nut ritional content of the average meal selected; the proportion of days when one of the two offered entrees met fat and cholesterol guidelines ; and the proportion of children selecting the entrees that met the gu idelines. Results: The average lunch selected had 35.9% of calories fr om total fat and 12.6% from saturated fat, exceeding the guidelines of 30% and 10%, respectively. Lunch contained an average of 57 mg choles terol (106 mg/1000 kcal) and met guidelines. One of the two daily entr ee choices met guidelines for both total fat and saturated fat on 20% of days, and met both fat and cholesterol guidelines on 14% of days. W hen available, entrees meeting the fat guidelines were chosen by 37% o f students, and entrees meeting both fat and cholesterol guidelines we re chosen by 34% of students. Conclusions: In this school district the average lunch selected did not meet the current guidelines for dietar y fat; when given the choice, more than one third of students selected the entrees that met these guidelines.