As announced by First Lady Michelle Obama, this final rule updates the
meal patterns and nutrition standards for the National School Lunch and
School Breakfast Programs to align them with the Dietary Guidelines for
Americans. This rule requires most schools to increase the availability of
fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fatfree and low-fat fluid milk in school
meals; reduce the levels of sodium, saturated fat and trans fat in meals; and meet the nutrition needs of school children within their calorie requirements. These improvements to the school meal programs, largely based on recommendations made by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, are expected to enhance the diet and health of school children, and help mitigate the childhood obesity trend.