New Rules for Food and Nutrition in Schools

The Department of Health and Human Services, Division of  Public  Health  Services,  Obesity  Prevention Program recently released “School Foods: A  Guide to Implementing the New Hampshire Administrative Rules for Education Regarding Food and Nutrition.”

The guide is a toolkit designed to help  schools  implement  the  administrative rules, which impact all foods made  available in New Hampshire public schools outside of the regular U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) school meals and snack programs.

All  foods  made  available  in  public  schools  during  school  hours are impacted,  including  foods  served  à  la  carte. The  toolkit identifies nutrition standards for school boards to adopt that are accepted by the New Hampshire Department  of  Education. It  also  provides  information  on communicating  policy, maximizing  financial  gains,  promoting new foods, celebrations, fundraisers, and other resources.

The  new school rules were approved in October of 2011 by the New Hampshire State  Board of Education. In December, the rules were adopted by the Joint Legislative  Committee on Administrative Rules and went into effect that same month. In March 2012, the Department of Education issued Technical Advisory #21 to address the sections that apply to school foods.

“Over  the  course of a child’s life, a large portion of their day is spent in school and thus a good part of their food consumption occurs while they are there  as  well,”  said Dr. José Montero, Director of Public Health at DHHS. “In our fight against obesity, it is imperative that we look at the foods  served  in schools and at school functions. This toolkit is designed to make the task of implementing the new regulations easier.”

The  Obesity Prevention Program at DHHS developed the toolkit in collaboration with the Community  Health  Institute, JSI  Research and Training Institute, Inc., and the Bureau of Nutrition Programs and Services in the New Hampshire Department of Education.

The  toolkit  can  be  accessed on the Obesity Prevention Program’s Healthy Schools page at www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/nhp/children/index.htm. For more
information about the OPP, visit the program website at www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/nhp/obesity.htm or call (603) 271-4551.

Submitted by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.