The federal government has been fighting the national obesity crisis upstream, focusing since 2000 on healthier meals for school children. A study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers evidence that strategy may be working.

In its latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, CDC reports on federal efforts to infuse school meals with healthier choices. Overall, the news was encouraging.

“Most schools in the U.S. are implementing healthy practices to help meet federal school meal standards by offering whole grains, more fruits and vegetables, and reducing sodium content,” CDC said in a release. In fact, the study said, students who dine on school-served fare are eating substantially better than those that get their sustenance elsewhere.

Read: 10 fattest states in America

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued new nutrition standards for school meals in 2012 and, the report said, those standards are being met by the majority of schools. The standards require whole grains, more fruits and vegetables, and less sodium to be included in school meals. The report said a review of school lunch data revealed that “the percentage of schools implementing five of the nine school nutrition services practices examined has increased significantly.”

The report said that, in 2014:

97 percent of schools offered whole grains each day for breakfast and 94 percent did so for lunch;
79 percent offered two or more vegetables (up from 61.7 percent in 2000) and 78 percent offered two or more fruits (up from 68.1 percent in 2000) each day for lunch;
30 percent offered self-serve salad bars;
More than half of schools that prepared their meals at the school used fresh or frozen vegetables instead of canned (54.1 percent), used low-sodium canned vegetables instead of regular canned vegetables (51.8 percent, up from 10.3 percent in 2000), used other seasonings instead of salt (65.1 percent up from 32.8 percent in 2000), and reduced the amount of sodium called for in recipes or used low-sodium recipes (68.0 percent up from 34.1 percent in 2000).

“School meals are healthier now than ever before. We’ve made real progress, but there is much more to do to help American children make food choices that will keep them healthy throughout their lives,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden.

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Schools making great strides in offering healthy meals

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