Over 90% of school age children consume too much sodium in their diet. This puts them at risk for high blood pressure and other heart problems. More than 30 million children eat at least one meal at school each year, school meals are proven to increase attendance and test scores in students.
The USDA is working to make school meals more nutritious by lowering sodium levels to improve children’s heart health. Congress should reject any effort to undermine school meal nutrition standards, including the attempt to exempt cheese—a major source of excess sodium for kids—from the updated nutrition targets. Lawmakers should prioritize children’s health and keep politics out of school meal sodium standards in the agriculture spending bill.
These efforts are happening even though cheese can easily be incorporated into the menu with these proposed updated standards. If cheese is exempt from having to meet the sodium targets, then school meals will just get saltier and lead to children consuming even more sodium than they already do.
Ask your Members of Congress to stand up for children’s health, and healthy meals in schools TODAY!
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