Modifications to nutrition labels have national health implications by | Chloe Biggs
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•Serving size: larger, bold •Added sugars included •Calories: larger, bold •Additional nutrients included •Updated daily values •New footnote to come
reshman Joan Kyung stared into her pantry. Picking up a package of Oreos, she gave a cursory glance at the nutrition label, naively thinking the whole package was the same as the serving size. “I don’t pay attention to nutrition labels,” Kyung said. “I just eat whatever I want unless I am intentionally on a diet. Sometimes I look at the calories on the packaging.” On March 25 the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published new data revealing a 43 percent drop in obesity rates among 2 to 3 year olds in the United States, one bright spot in the country’s battle with obesity. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also released a new design for nutrition labels. This new design will reflect realistic portion sizes. With Americans eating substantially more than what they were in 1994, the CDC suggests that this change is necessary. “Portion sizes are going to be more realistic,” Christina Dodd, child nutrition director for the Henderson County Public Schools, said. “For example, when you buy a soda, the nutritional information is listed by eight ounces. I don’t know the last time someone had an eight ounce soda.” The updated label will also highlight crucial information like caloric content and the levels of nutrients that some Americans have deficiencies in, such as vitamin D and potassium. For students like freshman Mary Catherine Ball, the nutrition label changes would make maintaining good eating habits even easier. “I’m very health-conscious because I am a student-athlete,” Ball said. “I have to have energy. If I get lazy with my diet, I am not going to do well in my sport.” Although there was a rapid decrease in
obesity rates for young children, teenagers everywhere still battle the problem. Henderson County has been slowly making changes to fight the epidemic. “Ice cream serving sizes and cookie sizes have decreased, and some of those things will actually go away next year,” Dodd said. “It will be mandated that the schools can’t sell them at all. There are some things that we are going to try that would be a substitute for them, but they are going to have to be whole grain.” The FDA’s nutrition label changes specify the amount of added sugars in a food product. “We are looking at the possibilities that would be approved to replace the cookies we serve,” Dodd said. “One of the things that might be approved is this type of dessert made by Betty Crocker. It’s like a brownie, but it is a smaller version, and it is made with whole grains. It is lower in calories, and it tastes like a whole grain cookie. They (the students) are probably not going to be as excited about it, but it took several years to get used to the whole wheat rolls.” One in four children in Henderson County are considered food insecure, according to Dodd, which means they do not know where their next meal is coming from. She believes that when students do not know if they are going to be able to afford a next meal, their priority is not always going to be what is the nutritional value on the label. That is her reason for the big push on balancing education and also making healthier foods available at a lower cost. “We are always trying to balance what students want to eat with what they need to eat. This is always the difficult part of our job,” Dodd said. “Students tend to want to consume items that are more like what they are used to at lunch time. We are trying to get some variety in their diet because people will stick to what they prefer.”
(Information from U.S. Food and Drug Administration)
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