The Trump administration has relaxed school lunch nutrition rules — here's what kids can now eat by Hilary Brueck on Jan 10, 2018, 3:15 PM Advertisement
 More sugary chocolate milk, fewer whole grains, and around 300 extra milligrams of salt — these are just some of the ways the Trump Administration has relaxed school-lunch nutrition rules put in place during the Obama Administration. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who heads the US Department of Agriculture (the agency that sets school meal rules), has argued that the healthier meals fed to kids since 2012 have led some picky eaters to refuse more of the food offered at school. "It doesn’t do any good to serve nutritious meals if they wind up in the trash can," Perdue said in a statement posted on the USDA website in November. But recent studies suggest that's not true, and that kids are now eating more vegetables and taking in less saturated fat at school (though the healthier lunches did take some getting used to). It costs more to feed kids healthier meals, however. And with the administration set on major budget cuts — including spending less on programs that feed children, and slashing billions from their 2018 education budget — the cost-cutting effects of feeding children cheaper, processed foods may be a primary reason for the rollback. Here's what kids across the country can get in the school lunch line under the Trump administration's relaxed rules: SEE ALSO: Harvard researchers studied more than 25,000 American kids — and made a worrisome prediction about what they'll be like by age 35 Since the 2014-2015 school year, cafeterias across the country were required to serve kids "whole grain rich" meals. But not anymore.  Under the Obama-era rules, all breads, cereals and pastas served to schoolchildren had to be at least 50% whole grain. But the USDA now says that feedback from students and schools indicates they're having a hard time finding "the full range of products they need and that their students enjoy in whole grain-rich form." (The USDA did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment for this story.) Whole grains are rich in fiber and protein, as well as B vitamins and minerals, which are good sustenance for your muscles, digestive system, tissues and bones. What's more, the United States Department of Agriculture's website explains that whole grains are important for helping young, growing minds "feel full longer so they stay alert to concentrate at school." In contrast, refined grains, which have been stripped of their nutrient-rich outer shells, get processed more quickly in the body and turned into sugar, which can cause people to overeat and promote weight gain. Long-term studies have shown that more refined carbohydrate consumption can also lead to diabetes and heart disease. Eating whole grains, on the other hand, can prevent these problems.
Salt's back too.  The Obama Administration's nutrition rules were designed to essentially cut current salt levels in school lunches in half by 2022. Both low- and high-salt diets are associated with increased mortality. Recent studies suggest the ideal sodium consumption level for kids is around 3 to 4 grams of sodium per day. Current school lunches contain about 1.2-1.4 grams of salt, and the Trump administration is keeping that the same. Nutrition experts say the target set in the Obama-era rules might have gone too far. "The sodium requirement may have been too restrictive," Susan Gross, a child nutrition expert at Johns Hopkins, told Business Insider in an email.
Kids are once more allowed to drink sugary flavored milk.  Under the Obama-era rules, added sugar and flavoring was only permitted in skim milks, but now chocolate 1% is allowed, too. But any carton of flavored milk, regardless of its fat content, isn't a good choice for kids. More than half of US children in school today are on track to be obese by age 35. Gross said that sugary drinks at school may be contributing to that epidemic. A single carton of flavored milk adds about four teaspoons of sugar to a child's daily diet.
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