Vast Majority of Parents Support Healthy School Lunches

The vast majority of parents surveyed in a new Pew Charitable Trust poll support healthy school meal standards in the National School Lunch Program. More than seven in 10 said that meals would be substantially better if schools offered a greater variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

The poll, which was conducted with registered voters in Alabama, also found that:

• Ninety-five percent of voters and 96 percent of parents support the requirement that schools include a serving of fruits or vegetables with every meal.
• Seventy-one percent of voters and 70 percent of parents think schools should provide foods made from whole grains with every meal.

“The poll results in Alabama mirror the results nationwide,” according to the Kids’ Safe and Healthful Foods Project, a collaboration of The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Visit HealthySchoolLunches.org to learn about the Physicians Committee’s efforts to improve school lunches.