Fact Sheet

ü      The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Cancer Society, the American Dietetic Association, the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association, the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Institutes of Health all recommend a greater emphasis in the American diet on fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes with a reduction in the consumption of animal foods (which are the primary source of saturated fat and the only source of cholesterol.)

US Dietary Guidelines:

FOOD CHOICES LOW IN SATURATED FAT AND CHOLESTEROL AND MODERATE IN TOTAL FAT

Get most of your calories from plant foods (grains, fruits, vegetables).

Unified Dietary Guidelines:

American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Cancer Society, the American Dietetic Association, the American Heart Association, and the National Institutes of Health created guidelines in 1999:

"According to the guidelines, the easiest ways to accomplish these goals are to:

§        eat a variety of foods;

§        choose most of what you eat from plant sources;

§        eat five or more servings of fruit and vegetables each day;

§        eat six or more servings of bread, pasta, and cereal grains each day;

§        eat high-fat foods sparingly, especially those from animal sources;

§        keep your intake of simple sugars to a minimum."

To see US Dietary Guidelines click this link: US Dietary Guidelines

To see Unified Dietary Guidelines click this link: Unified Dietary Guidelines

ü     25% of NY State (nearly half of NYC) children are overweight or obese, and the Surgeon General has reported that obesity is reaching epidemic proportions, particularly among children.

A special report from New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Department of Education, "NYC Vital Signs." June 2003, Volume 2, No. 5.
To see the above report click this link:NYC Vital Signs

Surgeon General's 2001 Report on Overweight and Obesity - Principles (David Satcher, MD, PhD)

To see the above report click this link: Surgeon General's 2001 Report on Overweight and Obesity - Principles

ü      Only 17% of children consume the minimum daily-recommended servings of vegetables, and 20% eat no vegetables on a given day.

ü      Less than 15% of children eat the minimum daily-recommended servings of fruit, and 35% eat no fruit on a given day.

Gleason P, Suitor C. Changes in Children's Diets:7 1989-91 to 1994-96. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, 2000. In press.

To see the above report click this link: (the first part of each statement): HEALTHY SCHOOL NUTRITION ENVIRONMENTS: Promoting Healthy Eating Behaviors

ü      90% of children consume amounts of saturated fat above the recommended level.

Should dietary fat recommendations for children be changed? - response to articles by Robert E. Olson and Ellyn Satter in this issue, pp. 28 and 32, Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Jan, 2000 by Johanna Dwyer

To see the above report click this link: Should dietary fat recommendations for children be changed?

ü      25% of children ages 5 to 10 have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or other early warning signs for heart disease.

Freedman D, Dietz W, Srinivasan S, Berenson G. "The Relation of Overweight to Cardiovascular Risk Factors Among Children and Adolescents: The Bogalusa Heart Study." Pediatrics 1999, vol. 103, pp. 1175-1182. As reported in National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity Fact Sheet 2003.

To see the above report click this link: National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity

The Bogalusa Heart Study

ü     "Adult Onset" Type 2 Diabetes, once limited largely to adults, is now seriously affecting children.

Rosenbaum, A.L., Joe, J.R., and Winter, W.R., "Emerging epidemic of type 2 diabetes in youth," Diabetes Care, 1999. As reported in Successful Students Through Health Food Policies (SSTHFP), California School Board Association and California Project Lean, 2003.

ü     A study, published in a June 1998 New England Journal of Medicine, showed that 50 percent of children 2- to 15-years-old have fatty streaks in their coronary arteries, a circumstance that sets the stage for further artery blockages and heart attacks later in life. Compounding the problem, the more meat and dairy children consume the fewer fruits and vegetables they eat. 

New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 338:1650-1656 June 4, 1998 Number 23

To see the above report click this link: http://content.nejm.org/

ü      Fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes are generally lower in fat and calories than meat and dairy products, contain no cholesterol and promote good health because they contain fiber and essential nutrients including vitamins and minerals, as well as phytochemicals, which are protective against diseases.

To see the above report click this link: Vegetarian Diets

ü      The number of school-aged vegetarians is increasing.
Nutrition services: an essential component of comprehensive health programs. J Am Diet Assoc. 2003;103:505-514

To see the above report click this link: Nutrition services: an essential component of comprehensive health programs.

Vegetarianism on the Rise Among School Children - American School Food Service Association

To see the above report click this link: Vegetarianism on the Rise Among School Children

ü      Children receiving appropriate education will order healthy plant-based foods at a rate up to 20 times more than children who do not have the appropriate education.

Demas, Antonia, Food Education in the Elementary Classroom as a Means of Gaining Acceptance of Diverse, Low-fat Foods in the School Lunch Program, Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell University, January, 1995.

ü      Healthy plant-based recipes that utilize USDA ingredients and cost less than .45 cents per serving are available.

Food is Elementary Curriculum by Antonia Demas, PhD, www.foodstudies.org (recipes available through the New York Coalition for Healthy School Lunches)