There is a request for public comments. The National School
Breakfast Program feeds 10 million children each day, and the
National School Lunch Program feeds more than 30 million
students. Yet the national nutrition standards and meal
requirements for these meals were created more than a decade
ago, making them out of step with recent guidance about
children's diets. With so many children receiving as much as 50
percent of their daily caloric intake from school meals, it is
vital for schools to provide nutritious food alongside the best
possible education for the success of their students. At the
request of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Institute
of Medicine assembled a committee to recommend updates and
revisions to the school lunch and breakfast programs. The first
part of the committee's work is reflected in the December 2008
IOM report Nutrition Standards and Meal Requirements for
National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs: Phase I. Proposed
Approach for Recommending Revisions. Phase II of