School-provided lunches had the highest fat content of the school food offerings examined in the study. But school breakfasts, "a la carte" dining items such as pizza and baked goods, and chips and candy sold at student-run stores all contributed to "excessive" fat consumption by students, say James F. Sallis, Ph.D., of the University of California-San Diego and colleagues.

"We estimated that the average student consumed about 26 grams of total fat at school, 30 percent more than the 20 grams recommended, and 14 percent more saturated fat than recommended," says Sallis.

Sallis and colleagues investigated the food environment at 24 middle schools in San Diego County, Calif., calculating the total fat and saturated fat served in cafeteria lunches and breakfasts, a la carte items, student-run stores and bag lunches brought from home. Along with collecting information on the quantity of each item sold, the researchers also surveyed children on their daily menu choices.

Their analysis revealed that cafeteria lunches contained an average of 31.1 grams of fat, cafeteria breakfasts contained an average of 14.4 fat grams, a la carte items contained an average of 13.1 fat grams and items from student stores contained an average of 6.4 fat grams. Bag lunches had an average of 20.8 grams of fat.

The federal dietary guidelines recommend eating 65 grams of fat per day. Earlier studies suggest that students eat 33 percent of their daily food intake at school, meaning that only about 20 grams of fat should be consumed as part of the school day diet.

Based on the percentage of students who ate each category of food, the researchers concluded that cafeteria lunches contributed the
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Contact: James F. Sallis, Ph.D.
619-260-5535
Center for the Advancement of Health
9-Jan-2003