Yahoo – AFP,
May 2, 2017
Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump's administration on Monday put the brakes on a scheme championed by former first lady Michelle Obama meant to ensure healthier meals in schools through lower salt, fats and sugar.
Donald Trump's administration backtracks Michelle Obama's 2012 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (AFP Photo/CHRIS KLEPONIS) |
Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump's administration on Monday put the brakes on a scheme championed by former first lady Michelle Obama meant to ensure healthier meals in schools through lower salt, fats and sugar.
The
Agriculture Department said in a statement the change would give American
schools "greater flexibility" and stop kids from throwing out the
less appetizing food mandated under the scheme.
Forcing
schools to adopt better nutritional standards under the 2012 Healthy,
Hunger-Free Kids Act if they wanted federal subsidies for meals was one of
Michelle Obama's key achievements.
Lauded by
supporters in the US as crucial in the fight against childhood obesity, the
initiative put restrictions on sodium and sweetened milks, and required school
lunches to increase the amount of whole-grain foods they contained.
The Trump
administration's backtrack on the measure came the same day as a study
suggesting that if American children exercised more, tens of billions of
dollars in medical costs could be saved over their lifetimes.
The finding
was made by researchers at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of
Public Health. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
about one in six American children are overweight or obese.
The
Agriculture Department said the nutritional requirements imposed on schools in
the past five years had added $1.2 billion in costs to school districts and to
states.
It said
easing those rules would decrease costs, give back greater control to local
authorities, and see children eating more enthusiastically.
"If
kids aren't eating the food, and it's ending up in the trash, they aren't
getting any nutrition –- thus undermining the intent of the program,"
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said.
At the same
time, the Trump administration discontinued another signature program by
Michelle Obama and her husband Barack Obama.
The 2015
scheme designed to promote educational opportunities for adolescent girls in
developing countries, called "Let Girls Learn," was being immediately
scrapped, CNN reported on the basis of an internal email it had obtained.
The email,
sent to members of the US Peace Corps, a US government overseas volunteer
program, said some parts of "Let Girls Learn" would continue, but the
name was being dropped along with its standalone status.
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