Road to SMI Success Manual - Region 10 Education Service Center

Introduction
SMI Is Important: Showing the Way
This manual provides the roadmap for meeting vital nutrition
goals for our Nation’s school children. We know that healthy
school meals provide much of the energy and nutrients children
need for the day. The vision of the USDA School Meals Initiative
is simple: Improve the health and enhance the ability to learn for
school children through better nutrition.
The National School Lunch Program began in post-war 1946
because of the high rate of rejections for military service due to
health problems related to malnutrition. While there is still some
evidence of malnutrition due to insufficient intake of calories and
other nutrients, the prevalence of malnutrition today is due to
excessive caloric consumption and/or physical inactivity resulting
in overweight children. The following statistics are also included
in Appendix A for reproduction as a handout.
Current scientific research indicates these and other trends in
children’s health:
◆ Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions.
The percentage of children who are overweight has more
than doubled since 1970, and the percentage among
adolescents has tripled. 2
◆ More than 10 percent of younger pre-school children between
ages 2 and 5 were overweight in 2003, up from 7 percent
in 1994 3
◆ These overweight children are a greater risk for psychological
disorders such as decreased self-esteem and depression,
and their suffering goes beyond teasing and taunts. 4
◆ Overweight children and adolescents are more likely to
become obese adults, increasing their risk for chronic
diseases later in life.
◆ Type 2 diabetes, which is closely linked to overweight, has
skyrocketed among children and adolescents over the past
decade. Childhood obesity has also been associated with
increased rates of high cholesterol and high blood pressure
among children.
SMI
Success
2 Ogden, CL, Flegal, KM, Carroll MD, and Johnson CL. Prevalence and Trends in Overweight Among
U.S. Children and Adolescents, 1999-2000. JAMA 2002 288 (14): 1728-1732.
3 US HHS Press Office. HHS, USDA Takes Next Step in Obesity Fight, Press Release, October 2002.
4 Sanjay Gupta, M.D., Why Adolescent Obesity Can Have Grim Consequences, TIME, May 2002.