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The Pros and Cons of Homework (in 6 Charts)

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The Pros and Cons of Homework (in 6 Charts)

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The value of homework is one of education's most heated debates-and one of its most misunderstood.

For some, homework reinforces learning while building study habits. For others, it's unnecessary busywork that fuels stress and disengagement.

Decades of research, however, suggest that the truth lies somewhere beyond these binary distinctions: Homework has increasing value as students climb through the grade levels, and that's especially true in high school, once time-management skills are in place. For younger students, the gains, when they can be spotted at all, are more nuanced-but at any grade level, from elementary to high school, poorly designed tasks or rigid homework policies can create more problems than they solve.

"Homework is a practice full of contradictions, where positive and negative effects coincide," researchers explain in a 2017 study. Purposeful, well-designed assignments can extend classroom lessons while helping students manage their own learning. Daily at-home reading, research shows, can deliver meaningful, long-lasting benefits to literacy.

Balance and teacher discretion is crucial: A growing body of research reveals that excessive homework displaces activities that support healthy development, from sleep and family time to hobbies and friendships, and can significantly increase unhealthy stress levels-all of which can take a toll on student engagement and mental health. Finally, not all students have equal access to the tools needed to complete assignments, especially as more schoolwork shifts online.

Here are six charts that shed light on the ways that homework helps or hinders, bringing a research lens to an admittedly tough conversation.

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The Pros and Cons of Homework (in 6 Charts)

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The case for homework isn't black and white, so we looked far and wide for research to shed a little light on the matter.

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Later School Start Times More Popular, But What Are the Drawbacks? | NEA

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Later School Start Times More Popular, But What Are the Drawbacks? | NEA

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As schools across the country continue to struggle with the academic and mental wellness fallout of the pandemic, many educators and district administrators are rethinking some of the mainstays that have defined public schools for decades, including homework, technology, and the length of the school day and week.

One potential change that generated momentum even before the pandemic is later school start times. According to the most recent federal data (2017-18), U.S. public high schools began their day at 8:00 a.m., on average. Forty-two percent of schools started earlier, including 10 percent-predominantly suburban schools-before 7:30 a.m.

These start times are too early, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Middle and high schools should start at 8:30 a.m. or later to give students the opportunity to get the sleep they need.

Over the past decade, a consensus formed among researchers that later school times would benefit student sleep patterns, which would enable them to walk into class more alert and more prepared for learning. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends teenagers, ages 13 to 18, should regularly sleep 8 to 10 hours per night for good health. Students without enough sleep are more likely to suffer from symptoms of depression, perform poorly in school, and not engage in daily physical activity.

Proponents believe the post-COVID school climate makes a shift to later school start times even more urgent. With stress and mental health challenges on the rise, later start times are seen as a relatively pain-free step in making schools healthier and happier places for students.

Still, later school start times can have ripple effects in school districts and the impact will not be felt equally by all students, families, and educators. Addressing these potential drawbacks and listening to all stakeholders is critical, experts say, before districts take this step.

What the Research Says

The existing research makes a compelling case that changing school start times can encourage healthier sleep. A 2018 study that looked at two public schools in Seattle found that students' sleep increased an average of 34 minutes each night after start times were moved nearly an hour later.

Students' academic performance, at least in the biology course that was the focus of the study, also improved. Among students whose start times were delayed, final grades were 4.5 percent higher, compared with students who took the class when school started earlier.

"School start time has serious implications for how students learn and perform in their education....To ask a teen to be up and alert at 7:30 a.m. is like asking an adult to be active and alert at 5:30 a.m.," said Horacio de la Iglesia, who co-authored the study. "Adolescents are on one schedule. The question is: What schedule will their schools be on?"

Another recent study painted a more modest picture of the academic benefits. In 2021, researchers at the University of Minnesota looked at 18,000 students in grades 5 through 11 after four school districts postponed the start of their school day by 20 to 65 minutes. Students' grade point averages increased by a modest 0.1 points, on average. While the researchers categorized the sleep benefits as "large," the academic improvements were considered "small."

But what do we know about the effect of later start times on educators? In 2022, researchers found that middle and high school teachers at a suburban school district in Colorado felt less stressed and more rested three years after the high schools started 70 minutes later and the middle school began 40-60 minutes later.

"Later secondary school start times is a significant policy shift that not only improves the health and well-being of adolescents, but can also equalize healthy sleep duration for all K-12 teachers," the researchers concluded.

Early Starts Show No Impact on Elementary Students

Like the Colorado district evaluated by this study, districts may need to move elementary school start times earlier to accommodate later times among middle and especially high schools. Staggering these start times can alleviate the potential logistical complications of this transition-particularly in areas where the number of school buses is limited.

Later start time initiatives focus on middle and high school students because that is the age group more susceptible to the ill effects of inadequate sleep. A study released in October by the American Educational Research Association found that early school start times do not have a discernible negative impact on elementary school students.

"We found earlier start times for elementary schoolers do not have the same negative effects as they do for middle and high schoolers," said study co-author Sarah Crittenden Fuller, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Moving elementary schools to earlier start times is unlikely to harm the educational outcomes of these younger students." (Similarly, the study in Colorado on teacher impact reported no ill effects on elementary educators after their schools implemented an earlier start time.)

Fuller and her colleagues also noted that school start times have the largest impact on traditionally disadvantaged groups and that those groups are most likely to be affected by the disruption of a later start time.

"To the extent that districts can change start times to bring middle and high school start times in line with the science on adolescent sleep, this may help close achievement gaps," said Fuller. "In addition, traditionally disadvantaged groups may benefit most from supports that schools and districts can provide to address disruptions in childcare and transportation created by a change in start times."

Not for Every Student and Family

Those potential disruptions will be monitored in California, where in 2019 lawmakers passed a law mandating districts not begin public high school any earlier than 8:30 a.m. and middle school earlier than 8 a.m. The law went into effect in September, affecting roughly 3 million students.

Later start time advocates praised the law as a huge step forward for students and predicted it would motivate other states to follow suit.

Indeed, other large states have proposals that duplicate, even exceed, the reach of the California law, including Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey. New York's bill, for example, would mandate that no school can start earlier than 8:30 am.

Despite the widespread popularity of the idea of later school start times, the California law is controversial.

Many educators, district leaders, and parents believe the shift will present significant operational and logistical challenges, complicate the scheduling of after-school extra-curricular activities, and disrupt the schedules of working parents. Both the California Teachers Association (CTA) and the California Schools Board Association opposed the measure on these grounds, also citing the erosion of local control and a failure to respect parental decisions and community input.

When the bill was being debated in 2019, CTA called attention to the challenges facing low-income families with less workplace flexibility. "We know from experience that many of these parents will drop their children off at school at the same time they do now, regardless of whether there is supervision, and there is not enough funding from the state for before school programs to ensure the safety of students who will be dropped off early," CTA spokeswoman Claudia Briggs told the Los Angeles Times.

"Traditionally disadvantaged groups may benefit most from supports that schools and districts can provide to address disruptions in childcare and transportation created by a change in start times."

Sarah Crittenden Fuller, University of North Carolina

Adriana Aguilar, a parent of two and a resource teacher in the San Ysidro school district near San Diego, has had to adjust her morning and afternoon schedule but, thanks to the support of her husband and family, is managing. She worries that many other parents may not have the same flexibility.

"This new time may benefit teenagers, but it does not accommodate the lifestyles of single-parent families, families with multiple children who attend different schools, and families where both parents work," she told the San Diego Tribune in August. At her school, Aguilar says the later dismissal times also affects students who participate in sports and other after-school activities.

Overall, she says the move to later start times is well-intentioned but, in her experience, student schedules/activities, and lack of proper nutrition play just a big a role in inadequate sleep.

"Until these topics are addressed, teens will continue to be unfocused and fatigued regardless of school start time."

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Later School Start Times More Popular, But What Are the Drawbacks? | NEA

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As schools across the country continue to struggle with the academic and mental wellness fallout of the pandemic, many educators and district administrators are rethinking some of the mainstays that have defined public schools for decades, including homework, technology, and the length of the school day and week.

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In the United States, the average This time varies, though, depending on the state. Except for eight outlying states, each state's average start time is between 7:45 a.m. and 8:15 a.m.

Other start time factors include the location of the school district and the school type. For example, 54% of high schools in the suburbs start before 8:00 a.m. By contrast, over half of charter high schools start after 8:00 a.m., and high schools with fewer than 200 students begin around 8:15 a.m on average. (This study did not include data on private schools.)

Data on average middle school start times is less recent and does not include public charter or private schools. When assessed by the CDC for the 2011-2012 school year, the average start time at This is slightly later than high schools. The middle school start times varied widely, too, depending on the state. This study also noted the start time for combined middle and high schools; the average was 8:08 a.m.

Both the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that both middle and high schools begin Both organizations want to ensure students get adequate sleep so that they are alert and prepared to learn at school.

Biology plays a large factor in the sleep cycles of children and adolescents. Around the beginning of puberty, most adolescents experience later sleep onset and wake times, also called "phase delay". This phase delay can shift the body's internal clock back by up to two hours. As a result, the average teenager cannot fall asleep until 11:00 p.m. and would do best waking up at 8:00 a.m. or even later.

A later school start time helps accommodate this biological need. Overall care for sleep hygiene, such as having a good night's sleep and following back-to-school sleep tips, can also help adolescents regulate their sleep.

Other factors that affect student sleep are . American middle and high school students often take on various extracurricular activities - such as sports, clubs, and jobs - which often extend into the evening hours. High school students also have more homework, late-night technology use, and fewer parent-set bedtimes, all of which may cause students to stay up later than is appropriate for getting adequate sleep.

Countless studies have shown that early school start times are associated with students getting less sleep, which negatively affects student academic performance. Students with less sleep have difficulty paying attention in class and are likely to have lower grades. They may also experience irritability and fatigue.

Other concerns with early school start times and the resulting insufficient sleep include:

Increased likelihood for participating in risk-taking behaviors, such as bullying and fighting.

Greater chance of unhealthy behaviors including alcohol and drug use and tobacco smoking.

National Library of Medicine, Biotech Information The National Center for Biotechnology Information advances science and health by providing access to biomedical and genomic information. Higher risk of athletic injury View Source .

An increase of depressive symptoms including suicidal ideation.

Increased risk of motor vehicle accidents.

A lack of sleep also has long-term physical and mental health consequences. Poor quantity and quality of sleep can lead to health concerns such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity.

Later school start times support the biological needs of adolescents; they increase the amount of sleep adolescents get. Other benefits of later start times include:

Improved attendance at school.

Decreased tardiness.

American Psychological Association (APA) APA is the leading scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States, with more than 121,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students as its members. Better student grades View Source .

Fewer occurrences of falling asleep in class.

Reduced irritability and depressive symptoms.

Fewer disciplinary issues.

16.5% decrease in the teenage crash rate National Library of Medicine, Biotech Information The National Center for Biotechnology Information advances science and health by providing access to biomedical and genomic information. A decline of motor vehicle crashes. One study showed a View Source after the school start time was pushed back one hour.

Disadvantages of Later School Start Times

While there are numerous benefits of later school start times, there are a few possible negative outcomes:

Scheduling conflicts. These may arise for athletic and academic competitions against schools with earlier start times and therefore an earlier dismissal.

Transportation challenges. Later start times will likely mean more busses on the road later in the day; this could create more traffic and increase travel delays.

Childcare. Some families rely on older students to care for younger siblings after school; this may be more difficult if high schools dismiss later than elementary or middle schools.

However, these problems can likely be solved with flexibility and thoughtful planning.

If you are concerned about a too-early start time for your child's school, consider contacting your school board or other educational leaders to discuss delaying school start time.

Learn more about our Editorial Team

References

1. Consensus Conference Panel, Watson, N. F., Badr, M. S., Belenky, G., Bliwise, D. L., Buxton, O. M., Buysse, D., Dinges, D. F., Gangwisch, J., Grandner, M. A., Kushida, C., Malhotra, R. K., Martin, J. L., Patel, S. R., Quan, S. F., Tasali, E., Non-Participating Observers, Twery, M., Croft, J. B., Maher, E., ... Heald, J. L. (2015). Recommended amount of sleep for a healthy adult: A joint consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 11(6), 591-592.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25979105/

2. Wheaton, A. G., Jones, S. E., Cooper, A. C., Croft, J. B. (2018). Short sleep duration among middle school and high school students - United States, 2015. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 67, 85-90.
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6703a1.htm?s_cid=mm6703a1_w

3. Sawyer, H., Taie, S., & Westat. (2020, February). Start Time for U.S. Public High Schools. The Institute of Education Sciences.
https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2020/2020006/index.asp

4. Wheaton AG, Ferro GA, Croft JB. School Start Times for Middle School and High School Students - United States, 2011-12 School Year. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2015;64(30);809-813.
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6430a1.htm

5. Adolescent Sleep Working Group; Committee on Adolescence; Council on School Health. School start times for adolescents. Pediatrics. 2014 Sep;134(3):642-9.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25156998/

6. Wheaton AG, Chapman DP, Croft JB. School Start Times, Sleep, Behavioral, Health, and Academic Outcomes: A Review of the Literature. J Sch Health. 2016 May;86(5):363-81.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27040474/

7. Watson NF, Martin JL, Wise MS, Carden KA, Kirsch DB, Kristo DA, Malhotra RK, Olson EJ, Ramar K, Rosen IM, Rowley JA, Weaver TE, Chervin RD; American Academy of Sleep Medicine Board of Directors. Delaying Middle School and High School Start Times Promotes Student Health and Performance: An American Academy of Sleep Medicine Position Statement. J Clin Sleep Med. 2017 Apr 15;13(4):623-625.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28416043/

8. The American Psychological Association. (2014). Later School Start Times Promote Adolescent Well-Being., Retrieved January 26, 2021 from
https://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/school-start-times.pdf

9. Danner F, Phillips B. Adolescent sleep, school start times, and teen motor vehicle crashes. J Clin Sleep Med. 2008 Dec 15;4(6):533-5.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19110880/

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How Would Later School Start Times Affect Sleep? | Sleep Foundation

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Experts recommend middle and high schools begin no sooner than 8:30 a.m. Later school start times will increase adolescent sleep and improve their performance.

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UPDATE: Early start times OK for elementary schools, study finds

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The latest education news updates from EdSource.

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Schools are right to resurrect the snow day

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Journalist and bestselling author Susan Orlean once described a snow day as "literally and figuratively" something that "falls from the sky - unbidden - and seems like a thing of wonder."Unless you grew up somewhere snow didn't exist, you likely woke up many a winter morning as a child, excited to see nothing but glistening white outside your window that wasn't there the night before.

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People sled in Brooklyn's Prospect Park following a blizzard in 2016. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

New York City's public school students will be deprived of their much-coveted snow days - perhaps forever, an education official said on Tuesday.

"There are technically no more snow days," David C. Banks, the city's Department of Education chancellor, said in an interview with WNYW 's "Good Day New York."

He explained that the remote-learning technology implemented during the coronavirus pandemic will allow students to continue their studies on days when the snow is too heavy for them to commute to school - when kids might have ordinarily gone sledding with their friends.

"So, sorry kids - no more snow days, but it's going to be good for you!" he said.

New York City public schools first scrapped snow days in 2020 amid the first year of the pandemic and continued the policy into the following school year, citing the need to meet the state's requirement of 180 days of learning per year.

The city's Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Wednesday.

School districts in other states have also done away with snow days, though some places - including Washington, D.C. - have held onto them. Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, for example, budgeted up to five snow days last year.

Ben Blair, the principal of Rogers Park Montessori in Chicago, told WFLD earlier this year that the days off could be good for students.

"I think there's value in these moments of reckless, joyful abandon," he told the station. "Whether flopping in the snow or meeting neighbors out on the street shoveling, that human connection that serendipitously happens during a snow day is fantastic."

In places with disappearing snow days, the switch has come to the disappointment of students and the opposition of some parents for whom the events are reminders of their own childhoods. The stresses of making sure their children are engaged with remote learning while juggling their own work responsibilities are also top of mind.

New York City just canceled snow days, and parents aren't happy

At the same time, snow days have been a headache for officials in New York City and other parts of the country who are forced to make tough calls that are often later criticized. Years before the coronavirus pandemic closed schools, officials nationwide had been searching for alternatives to giving students the day off for inclement weather, with some experimenting with remote learning, Edutopia, a publication by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, reported in 2018.

Although Banks said remote learning technology has enabled the transition away from snow days in New York City, some lower-income families have said it doesn't work for them. In December, five parents sued the city officials, claiming the department supplied them with faulty equipment and offered no technical support. The case is ongoing.

Teachers, meanwhile, have been told to set up a "digital classroom" in which a lesson plan is prepared and ready in case of an emergency closure, a United Federation of Teachers union spokesperson told the New York Post.

On Tuesday, the hosts of "Good Day New York" jokingly booed Banks's snow day announcement.

"I know," he replied. "That's the way I used to feel."

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No more snow days? NYC schools say remote learning eliminates the need.

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New York City's public school students will be deprived of their much-coveted snow days - perhaps forever, an education official said on Tuesday. "There are technically no more snow days," David C. Banks, the city's Department of Education chancellor, said in an interview with WNYW 's "Good Day New York."

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Sorry, kids, turning your PJs inside out won't help: New York City is canceling snow days again.

"There are technically no more snow days," Schools Chancellor David Banks said Tuesday on Fox 5′s "Good Day New York."

"With the new technology that we have - that's one of the good things that came out of Covid - if a snow day comes around, we want to make sure that our kids continue to learn," Banks added. "So, sorry kids! No more snow days, but it's gonna be good for you!"

According to the New York Post, snow days were previously axed in NYC when the Covid pandemic began in 2020 as all schools shifted to virtual learning. The 2021-2022 school year also said snow days would still utilize "remote learning," and this year will do the same.

Will snow days be canceled permanently? An Education Department spokesperson told The Post on Tuesday that they "consider and reassess policies" each year.

Other school districts have varying policies after New York state gave permission to switch to remote learning rather than use a snow day during bad weather in 2020 and last year. Liverpool Superintendent Mark Potter said last year Liverpool schools would continue to use traditional snow days but remote learning would be an option if the district used too many days off. Syracuse City Schools used remote learning during the 2020-2021 winter, but switched back to traditional snow days last winter.
Farmers Almanac predicts snowy winter in Upstate NY, with 'significant shivers'

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New York City cancels snow days, will instead have remote learning

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Sorry, kids, turning your PJs inside out won't help: New York City is canceling snow days again. "There are technically no more snow days," Schools Chancellor David Banks said Tuesday on Fox 5′s "Good Day New York."

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The availability of virtual learning means schools don't necessarily need to shut down for the weather. But the loss of snow days is the loss of a source of joy for kids.

Snow days are uniquely beloved by kids in wintry climates. After a night of hoping, children earn a blissful surprise: a morning spent sleeping in and a day of playing outside. As Cindy Burau, a fourth-grade teacher in Lake Tahoe, California, put it: Snow days are "like gifts from the heavens that we all need: a sigh, a moment." The pandemic has threatened this tradition. For students who attend school remotely every day, bad weather no longer affects their ability to attend class. And schools that have returned to in-person teaching or hybrid models likely still have remote-learning setups that they can turn to. With virtual school available as an alternative to canceling class, some schools have seen fit to put an end to the snow day as generations of children have known it.

On the one hand, students are falling months behind after losing classroom time because of COVID-19. (This is more likely to be the case for students of color and students living in low-income communities.) Some educators argue that students can't afford to miss more school this year-even when it snows. On the other hand, kids love snow days, and many parents welcome even a short break from the daily grind of helping with Zoom classes. The products of a practical need to keep students at home during dangerous travel conditions, snow days' primary purpose has become bringing children joy. The pandemic has taken so much away from kids, snow-day advocates say. Do we have to take this away too?
Erika Christakis: School wasn't so great before COVID, either
But snow days were endangered even before COVID-19 hit. Over the past five years or so, some districts in Maine, Minnesota, Ohio, and other states have opted for students to work remotely when the weather has made travel dangerous. The coronavirus has accelerated this trend. Because of the pandemic, about 40 percent of school districts have replaced traditional snow days with remote-learning days, while only 20 percent have preserved the days off, according to a November survey from Education Week. (The remainder of those surveyed were either undecided or located in climates where school isn't likely to be canceled for weather.)

Whether these schools are making a temporary decision for the duration of the pandemic or a more permanent change is still unclear. In the coming years, although climate change will likely affect U.S. snowfall patterns, schools in many regions will still need to deal with winter weather. And during true emergencies, such as the recent winter storm and resulting infrastructure disaster in Texas, even remote school will have to be canceled. But in less extreme cases, adjustments made for the pandemic have given schools more choices.

Cheryl Logan, the superintendent of Omaha Public Schools, had been quietly considering the possibility of holding classes remotely during snow days for several years. The pandemic sped up her plans: Her teachers grew accustomed to teaching virtually, and the school district provided her students with iPads that have mobile connections. Suddenly she had solutions for all the logistical hurdles that had held her back. In November, Logan announced that traditional snow days are gone forever in her district. Still, she was quick to correct us when we asked about the decision to permanently cancel them: "We don't like to use the word cancel. We like to use repurpose." She has chosen a hybrid model, in which students will sign on for a few hours in the morning and take the afternoon off. She's mindful of children's need to play and the nostalgia factor associated with snow days. "It makes complete sense that folks are yearning for anything that feels more like what we have been accustomed to," she told us. But as an educator, she wants to ensure that inclement weather doesn't lead to students falling too far behind in school.
Read: Why did we ever send sick kids to school?
For Jen Homann, a software engineer and parent to a third grader in Omaha, the decision has been slightly disappointing. Although her son is mostly back to in-person school, he requires help on remote snow days-because her husband has to go into the office, and she works from home, that burden falls largely on her. In districts such as hers that permanently replace snow days with online learning, parents will have to not only juggle their jobs and the logistics of child care when the weather keeps kids home, but also deal with remote school even after the pandemic ends.

This would add an extra burden to days that were already logistically complicated for many working parents. For example, Jenn Ragan, a mom in Lake Tahoe, owns a snow-removal business, so she's always been busiest when it snows. "There's more that goes into a snow day than just kids playing. Teachers, parents, everyone-they're shoveling or blowing their driveways," she told us.

But not all families are sad to lose traditional snow days. Melissa Siig, a mom of three kids in Lake Tahoe, told us that, during the pandemic, a snow day is "not as exciting and special as it used to be. It was almost like Christmas." Many students have now spent almost a full year mostly stuck inside, and a snow day-once an excuse to stay home and relax-is not very different from a typical pandemic day. Siig's daughter, Kaya, 14, said that her school sometimes adds days to the end of the year to compensate for snow days, so doing away with them could mean an earlier summer vacation.

Their district, which has partially returned to the classroom in a hybrid model, is responding to bad weather with both distance-learning days and traditional snow days, depending on how bad that weather is. During a big storm in January, Carmen Diaz Ghysels, the superintendent of the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District, called three snow days: the first two as distance learning, and the last a traditional one to accommodate teachers who had lost internet access. Ghysels is unsure whether the district will continue to have remote-learning "snow days" post-pandemic, since the state's board of education has not announced whether distance learning is approved for the next school year. She's also aware that many community members feel strongly about preserving the days off, and wants to hear from them before making a decision.

Other superintendents, such as Bondy Shay Gibson of Jefferson County Schools in West Virginia, are also attuned to their community's feelings toward snow days. In December, Gibson canceled classes so that students could enjoy the first snow of the school year and take a break. In the future, however, Gibson told us, students may be asked to attend classes remotely on snowy days. "You have to have some balance," she said. "We have huge expectations of kids these days, and every once in a while, you've just got to put grace before grades and let them enjoy being a kid, because it goes by pretty fast."
Read: My child is near tears every day-and so am I
For many, including Gibson, saving a beloved tradition has turned out to be good press. On social media, thousands of people shared the letter Gibson wrote announcing the December day off, which declared that in a difficult year, " this is one thing our kids won't lose." A superintendent in Indiana jokingly assigned students snowball fights as homework for their day off. The Mahwah school district in New Jersey announced that it would keep snow days to " maintain the hope of children." Campbell's Soup made the effort corporate with a #SavetheSnowDay campaign. The company, which has partnered with Mahwah, aims to "preserve and protect our most magical of winter birthrights," and, of course, peddle canned goods at the same time.

Before its campaign to save snow days, Mahwah had seriously considered canceling them, according to Lisa Rizzo, the district's director of special services. But ultimately, those in favor of preserving them won out. Since then, the fervor for snow days (powered by social-media support) has grown, and Mahwah administrators have churned out impassioned pro-snow day videos and emails. "We will find a way to get to the math, get to the reading," Dennis Fare, the assistant superintendent told us. Rizzo added, "Children have lost so many rites of passage. The first-day-of-school photograph at the bus stop was gone. Birthday parties are reduced to signs on your front lawn and friends driving by, honking horns. This is one place where we can maintain the integrity of childhood."

Snow days are, of course, only a couple of days a year. But they represent so much more. Anticipating snow days is part of the fun, as children try to summon them with superstitions such as flushing ice cubes down the toilet, wearing their pajamas inside out, and sleeping with spoons under their pillows. They celebrate them by spending time outside, away from screens. Burau, the fourth-grade teacher, told us that snow days bring the whole community together: Kids go sledding, high schoolers dig cars out for extra cash, and parents take time to play in the snow too. If nothing else, snow days offer children a temporary break from the modern school culture of constant homework. During a year of loss, saving the snow day has come to represent protecting children from the harms of the pandemic-Zoom fatigue, grief, and monotony-and preserving moments of joy.

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The availability of virtual learning means schools don't necessarily need to shut down for the weather. But the loss of snow days is the loss of a source of joy for kids. Snow days are uniquely beloved by kids in wintry climates.

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Some school districts and states in recent years have abandoned or rethought snow days and allowed instruction to continue virtually when inclement weather shuts down school buildings. The proliferation of remote learning during COVID-19 has accelerated that trend in states like Massachusetts and New York, where schools now have the option to continue snow days or skip them this year.

Thirty-nine percent of principals and district leaders say their district has converted snow days to remote learning days, and another 32 percent say their districts are considering the change, according to an EdWeek Research Center survey conducted earlier this month.

But some holdouts remain.

The Mahwah school district in New Jersey last month made a splash nationwide when it announced that it would continue to "close" school as usual this year during snow events, even if students are already at home due to COVID-19.

The district at the foot of the Watchung mountains typically has between three and five snow days in its calendar to use when winter weather strikes. Teachers traditionally encourage elementary students to do fun activities at home that superstitiously make snowfall more likely, such as wearing pajamas inside out, flushing ice cubes down the toilet, and placing a spoon beneath pillows while sleeping.

"The history of snow days is steeped within our culture," said Lisa Rizzo, the district's director of special services.

So when administrators began discussing how to approach the cold weather season amid a pandemic that's still raging eight months after it shut down most U.S. school buildings across the country, the decision was far from a no-brainer.

'Normal Rites of Passage'

Virtual learning has become the norm for many students this school year and will likely persist beyond the pandemic. But "we recognize the pandemic has robbed our students of the normal rites of passage: normal prom, typical graduation, even the way children enjoy the first day of school with the obligatory photograph on the steps outside the school building," Rizzo said.

The snow day, then, represents a rare oasis of normalcy, and the tradition will continue.

"Really, we could all use that surprise phone call right now," said Dennis Fare, the district's assistant superintendent. "That excitement is needed not just for our children, but very much for our adults who are working really hard."

The Slate Valley district in Vermont also plans to maintain traditional snow days this year. A majority of the district's students are eligible for free and reduced-price meals. Remote learning on snow days would require the school to either distribute meals to families' homes during severe weather or leave students without meals that day, according to Brooke Olsen-Farrell, the district's superintendent.

"If a school district was to go remote on a snow day instead and not provide meals, they would also not be making up the day" for meal delivery at the end of the year, Olsen-Farrell said. "Therefore, over the course of the school year students could potentially have decreased access to food."

Several district leaders have said requiring remote learning would be particularly tricky if the snowstorm that closes school buildings also knocks out electricity.

In other places, though, snow days will soon look different, if they exist at all.

West Hartford Schools in Connecticut will give students the day off only on the first two snow days of the year. New York City schools won't have any snow days this year, and the same is true for Green Bay Schools in Wisconsin and the Salem district in Massachusetts. The Omaha district in Nebraska has done away with snow days permanently, now that it's achieved its goal of providing every student with an iPad.

Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania had already passed policies prior to the pandemic that allow schools to continue instruction remotely when school buildings close for bad weather.

In Academy District 20 in Colorado Springs, Colo., a "snow day" now means middle and high school students continue with online learning, while elementary schoolers will have the day off as before. The new policy arose after the district delayed the start of this school year by a week, essentially exhausting all five of the allotted days for secondary schools that don't require makeup at the end of the school year, said Tom Gregory, the district's superintendent.

Reasons to Dump Snow Days

In some parts of the country, extending the school year is an unpleasant proposition as temperatures rise, particularly for schools without central air conditioning. Enthusiasm for school work also tends to wane in the last few weeks of the school year, said Rick Ferdig, a professor of educational technology at Kent State University in Ohio.

Ferdig believes those are compelling reasons to rethink snow days. He's convinced that they've stuck around, in part, because adults have nostalgia for their childhood snow day experiences. And he doesn't buy the argument that snow days should remain to boost students' mental health: "Why aren't you just planning mental health breaks anyway?"

In an ideal world, Ferdig said, all schools would be comfortable abandoning snow days because they're adequately equipped to maintain high-quality instruction remotely. But, as the last year has shown, "many schools are not prepared to do that," he said. "In no way shape or form can you consider not having snow days if you don't address the equity issue."

Indeed, schools are already finding that requiring remote learning during snow days won't be without headaches. In the Janesville district in Wisconsin, schools will encourage students to take their school-issued devices home with them if winter weather is predicted, but students may have to use their own computers for remote learning if snowfall hits unexpectedly, according to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.

Mixed Opinions

The community reaction to the new snow day approach in Gregory's district hasn't been uniformly positive, he said.

"Some parents are glad to see that students are still expected to be engaged," he said. "There are other parents who think there should be a snow day like it always has been."

When COVID-19 is no longer a crisis, Gregory expects remote instruction might be an option for students on inclement weather days, rather than a requirement. He also hopes to see the state rethink its policy around instructional time. "Is seat time still the measuring stick we should be using?" he said.

All of the concerns about replacing snow days with remote instruction are valid, but worth overcoming, Ferdig said. He points to the approach schools in Singapore have taken, with pre-scheduled full-time remote instruction once a week in preparation for an emergency like COVID-19. That kind of long-range planning would serve U.S. schools well.

"Let's find a way to capitalize on this," Ferdig said. "It's to prove that we're prepared to educate our kids in any way necessary."

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No More Snow Days, Thanks to Remote Learning? Not Everyone Agrees

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Some school districts and states in recent years have abandoned or rethought snow days and allowed instruction to continue virtually when inclement weather shuts down school buildings. The proliferation of remote learning during COVID-19 has accelerated that trend in states like Massachusetts and New York, where schools now have the option to continue snow days or skip them this year.

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Remote Learning Can Wait - It's Time for a Snow Day, Families Say

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NBC New York's John Chandler sleds (er, reports) from Prospect Park, where many families had their kids forego remote learning in favor of a day spent outside, zooming down a hill rather than Zooming on a computer.

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At first glance, a law that allows school districts to replace snow days with virtual learning days sounds fair and impartial. The benefit of this law would be that families of financial means and school faculty can attend to their summer vacation plans on time, rather than spend the tail-end of June making up for snow days in order to fulfill the 180-day school requirement.

However, bill A2199/ S464 is not that and I urge you to vote no on it in any form.

This bill expands opportunities for remote education in the place of weather emergencies, public health emergencies, states of emergency, or other reasons deemed fit by the district. This legislation is dangerous in that it broadly affords school administrators way too many opportunities to plug "virtual learning" (a disastrous oxymoron) in place of in-person school almost whenever the district's administration deems it necessary, and only with retroactive and inadequately promised oversight.

Undoubtedly, the aforementioned benefits to those eager to hop on a plane to Aruba or road trip to summer camp would be completely overshadowed by gross, unchecked negligence on the part of school bureaucrats.

The socioeconomically diverse landscape of New Jersey does not allow for a bill like this to withstand the needs of the families and children of the state.

A bill whose purpose is meant to honor and benefit vacation plans for the wealthy, albeit to the detriment of the actual education of millions of children, can never become law in this state. Moreover, the fact that it was even conceived of, written and passed in the Senate unanimously speaks to how out of touch our state legislators are. This bill is nothing short of an embarrassment.

A bill like this one presumes goodwill on the part of school administrators, teachers' unions, and school board members. This simply isn't a universal reality in the 600 New Jersey districts. Many of the residents of poorer, larger districts are, for various reasons, not able to engage in local politics. This makes students and families in various districts in New Jersey easier to cheat out of in-person school days. Their difficulty self-advocating should not be preyed upon, but will be if this bill passes."

The bill presumes, rather ignorantly, that "public health emergencies" may not come again, and that if they do, closing schools will be appropriate. Surely if the past two years have taught us anything, it is that our schools must close last and open first in the event of a pandemic or epidemic.

Lastly, and most importantly, the bill is a slap in the face to the children and families of New Jersey who have suffered through remote "learning" for two years, and even continue to incrementally suffer remote school now at the drop of a hat.

Children cannot learn through computer screens, and not all caregivers have the time, patience, energy, sobriety, or literacy to engage and/or supervise the process. Children cannot attend necessary therapies through computer screens; remote school is an unmitigated disaster for English language learners, special education students and students who rely on school for lunch.

This is a bill borne out of and for the privileged and elite, and it blindly disregards the needs and realities of the millions of families in New Jersey whose wellness doesn't hinge on summer vacation getting cut short by two or three days because of snow days during the school year.

So please, for the sake of the children and families of New Jersey, do not codify the greatest public policy disaster of our lifetimes into law. If we have learned anything from this pandemic, we should be doing everything possible to preserve in-person education, and not shy away from it.
Rachel Keane of West Orange is a registered nurse and mother of two children, ages 2 and 5. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to Here's how to submit an op-ed or Letter to the Editor. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. NJ.com.

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Mom: Legislators please don't greenlight remote learning for snow days | Opinion

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At first glance, a law that allows school districts to replace snow days with virtual learning days sounds fair and impartial. The benefit of this law would be that families of financial means and school faculty can attend to their summer vacation plans on time, rather than spend the tail-end of June making up for snow days in order to fulfill the 180-day school requirement.

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VIDEO: Why can't you wake up early for school?

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VIDEO: Why can't you wake up early for school?

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Syosset School Board Start Time Investigation

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Syosset School Board Start Time Investigation

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Committees/Task Force / High School Start Time

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Preparing our students for a continually changing world

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VIDEO: Sleep expert explains benefits of later school start times for teens

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VIDEO: Sleep expert explains benefits of later school start times for teens

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Sleep expert explains benefits of later school start times for teens

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VIDEO: California Becomes 1st State To Push Back Start Times For Students

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VIDEO: California Becomes 1st State To Push Back Start Times For Students

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California Becomes 1st State To Push Back Start Times For Students (3)

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California becomes 1st state to push back start times for students

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California becomes 1st state to push back start times for students

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California becomes 1st state to push back start times for students

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California has become the first state in the nation to require most middle and high schools to delay their start times, a move the state says will encourage students to get more rest. NBC's Erin McLaughlin reports for TODAY.

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VIDEO: Why School Should Start Later for Teens

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VIDEO: Why School Should Start Later for Teens

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Why school should start later for teens | Wendy Troxel

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VIDEO: Snow days: Is it better for kids to have a break or stay in school?

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VIDEO: Snow days: Is it better for kids to have a break or stay in school?

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Snow days: Is it better for kids to have a break or stay in school?

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VIDEO: Why some say students should still be learning on snow days

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VIDEO: Why some say students should still be learning on snow days

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Why some say students should still be learning on snow days

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VIDEO: Local schools will return to snow days instead of remote learning

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VIDEO: Local schools will return to snow days instead of remote learning

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Local schools will return to snow days instead of remote learning

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All students can participate in school meal programs, and some students are eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals.

Programs like the National School Lunch Program's Afterschool Snack Service, the At-Risk Snack and Meals component of the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) offer financial support to provide children and youths with nutritious snacks and meals. CACFP and SFSP specifically reach children from low-income areas.

School food service departments have experience following food safety and nutrition guidelines. This makes them strong candidates for serving as a Child and Adult Care Food Program or Summer Food Service Program sponsor.

School meals are nutritious. 1,2 Research shows that students who participate in the school meal programs consume more whole grains, milk, fruits, and vegetables during meal times and have better overall diet quality, than nonparticipants. 1,3 And, eating breakfast at school is associated with better attendance rates, fewer missed school days, and better test scores. ⁴⁻⁷ Meals served through these programs must meet specific nutrition requirements which include fruit, vegetables, and whole grains.

Schools can encourage students to participate in the school meal programs by:

Providing meals that are nutritious and appealing.

Obtaining input from students and parents about items they would like to see served in the meals.

Ensuring that students have adequate time to eat their meal (at least 10 minutes for breakfast and 20 minutes for lunch).

Preventing the overt identification of students who are eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals.

1. Fox MK, Gearan E, Cabili C, et al. School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study, Final Report Volume 4: Student Participation, Satisfaction, Plate Waste, and Dietary Intakes. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Policy Support; 2019. https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-nutrition-and-meal-cost-study

2. Gearan EC, Fox MK. Updated nutrition standards have significantly improved the nutritional quality of school lunches and breakfasts. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2020;120(3):363-370.

3. Kinderknecht K, Harris C, Jones-Smith J. Association of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act with Dietary Quality Among Children in the US National School Lunch Program. JAMA. 2020;324(4):359-368.

4. Murphy JM, Pagano MR, Nachmani J, Sperling P, Kane S, Kleinman RR. The relationship of school breakfast to psychosocial and academic functioning. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 1998;152:899-107.

5. Murphy JM, Pagano M, Bishop SJ. Impact of a universally-free, in-classroom school breakfast program on achievement: Result from the Abell Foundation's Baltimore Breakfast Challenge Program. Boston, MA: Massachusetts General Hospital; 2001.

6. Murphy JM, Drake JE, Weineke KM. Academics and Breakfast Connection Pilot: Final report on New York's classroom breakfast project. Albany, NY: Nutrition Consortium of New York; 2005.

7. Myers A, Sampson A, Weitzman M, Rogers B, Kayne H. School Breakfast Program and School Performance. Am J Dis Child, 1989;143:1234-9.

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centers for disease control and prevention

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Healthy Schools, CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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Citation: Research reported in this article was supported by the National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute under award R01HL115189, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Complete information on authors, funders, methodology, and conflicts of interest is available in the published paper.

Disclaimer: The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funders.

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School Meals Would Be Even Healthier if Compliant with U.S. Nutrition Standards, Study Finds

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Aligning student meals to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans would support children's health and cut health care costs into adulthood, say Tufts researchers.

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The American Heart Association is working on several fronts to improve Americans eating habits. This includes supporting strong nutrition and diet quality policies, calling for higher school nutrition standards and shaping FDA nutrition initiatives.

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It's no secret that students need good nutrition in order to learn and perform well in school. A balanced diet is essential for their physical and mental development.

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When it comes to lunch provided by schools or packed at home, it's critical to provide healthy meals for students. In this blog post, we will go over a few reasons why a nutritious school lunch is so important to students and their success.

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Physical Health

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A healthy school lunch is incredibly important for students' physical health. The nutrients in a healthy school lunch help students to grow and develop properly. In addition, a healthy school lunch helps to prevent obesity and other chronic health conditions.

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When students eat a nutritious school lunch, they are more likely to be physically active and to have a positive attitude towards physical activity. Furthermore, a healthy school lunch provides essential vitamins and minerals that are necessary for good health. Vitamins and minerals help the body to function properly and can help to prevent disease.

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Mental Health

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Healthy school lunch is important for students' mental health for a combination of reasons. First, nutritious food helps to improve concentration and focus, which is essential for academic success. Second, healthy eating habits can lead to increased energy levels and improved moods. Finally, nutritious meals help to promote overall physical health, which can lead to improved mental health.

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When students feel good about themselves physically, they are more likely to feel good about themselves mentally as well. By providing healthy school lunches, we can help our students to thrive academically, emotionally, and physically.

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Classroom Performance

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When it comes to school performance, there are many factors that come into play. But one of the most important is nutrition. When students eat a healthy lunch, they are more likely to have the energy and focus they need to succeed in the classroom. A nutritious meal gives students the fuel their bodies need to grow and learn.

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It also helps them to maintain a healthy weight, which can boost self-esteem and confidence. And when students feel good about themselves, they are more likely to take pride in their work and perform at their best. A healthy lunch can truly make all the difference in their academic success.

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Healthy Eating Habits

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A well-rounded school lunch program is an essential part of developing healthy eating habits in kids. Not only does it provide the fuel they need to focus in class, but it also offers an opportunity to develop healthy eating habits.

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Furthermore, school lunches provide an important opportunity for children to try new foods and expand their horizons. By offering a variety of healthy options, schools can encourage kids to experiment with new flavors and ingredients. In addition, by teaching kids about the importance of nutrition, schools can help them make informed choices about what they eat both now and in the future.

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Immune System Support

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A healthy lunch can also help students stay healthy by boosting their immune systems, preventing them from missing class as well. While there are many factors that contribute to a strong immune system, diet is one of the most important. The nutrients in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains help to support the body's natural defenses, while unhealthy foods can weaken them.

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For example, research has shown that vitamin C can help to prevent respiratory infections, while sugary drinks increase the risk of developing obesity-related illnesses. By providing students with a healthy lunch, schools can help them to build up their immune systems and stay healthy throughout the year.

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In Conclusion

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As you can see, there are many reasons why it's important to provide students with healthy meals for school lunch. By doing so, we can help them to succeed academically, emotionally, and physically. A healthy lunch could make all the difference for a combination of different reasons.

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Why Healthy School Lunches are Critical for Students' Success | Ordo

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A nutritious and balanced school lunch is critical for students' physical health, mental well-being, and academic performance.

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Fully synchronizing student school meals with the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans could positively affect hundreds of thousands of children into their adulthood, a new study shows.

The research shows that doing so would have the added benefit of saving billions in lifetime medical costs.

Today's school meals are much healthier than they were for the parents of American kids, but still 1 in 4 school meals are of poor nutritional quality. The new dietary guidelines in place for 2020-25, call for meals with less sugar and salt and with more whole grains.

By modeling the national implementation of updated school lunch guidelines, the researchers found even incomplete compliance by schools would lead to overall reductions in short- and long-term health issues for participating K-12 students.

"On average, school meals are healthier than the food American children consume from any other source including at home, but we're at a critical time to further strengthen their nutrition," says senior author Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and professor of nutrition at the Friedman School at Tufts University.

"Our findings suggest a real positive impact on long-term health and health care costs with even modest updates to the current school meal nutrition standards."

The researchers used a simulation model to derive a data-driven estimate of three changes to the school meal program, including limiting percent of energy from added sugar to lower than 10% of total energy per meal, requiring all grain foods to be whole grain, and lowering sodium content to the Chronic Disease Risk Reduction amount for sodium intake in the 2020-2025 DGA.

The researchers estimated a portion (35%) of these dietary changes to continue into adulthood. If all schools fully complied with the new standards, these were estimated to prevent more than 10,600 deaths per year due to fewer diet-related diseases, saving over $19 billion annually in health care-related costs during later adulthood. The worst-case estimate, in which schools remained with their current food offerings, saved a little over half as many lives and health care dollars.

School meals aligned to new dietary guidelines for added sugars, sodium, and whole grains would have modest, but important, short-term health benefits for children. For example, these changes were estimated to reduce elementary and middle school students' body mass index (BMI) by 0.14 and systolic blood pressure by 0.13 mm Hg.

Benefits were about half as large for high school students because fewer older students eat school-provided meals.

"Using a comparative risk assessment model, our estimations are based on the best available, nationally representative data on children and adults and the best available evidence on how dietary changes in childhood relate to BMI and blood pressure, how dietary changes persist into adulthood, and how diet influences disease in adulthood," says first author Lu Wang, a postdoctoral fellow at the Friedman School. "Our new results indicate that even small changes to strengthen school nutrition policies can help students live longer, healthier lives."

The study's findings, which cannot prove the outcomes they describe but are derived from a mathematical model based on the best available demographic and health data, are timely given the United States Department of Agriculture's recent commitment to updating the school meal nutrition standards to align with the 2020-2025 dietary guidelines.

The price to fully implement new school meal standards is yet to be determined, but previous alignments suggest it would add at least another $1 billion nationally to the cost of these programs, or only about 5% of the total predicted annual long-term health care savings this change would yield.

The study appears in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Source: Joseph Caputo for Tufts University

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School meals are healthier but still not healthy enough

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Aligning school meals to new dietary guidelines could benefit kids into adulthood, according to new research.

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A 2010 federal law that boosted nutrition standards for school meals may have begun to help slow the rise in obesity among America's children - even teenagers who can buy their own snacks, a new study showed.

The national study found a small but significant decline in the average body mass index of more than 14,000 schoolkids ages 5 to 18 whose heights and weights were tracked before and after implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.

The study is new evidence that improving the quality of school meals through legislation might be one way to help shift the trajectory of childhood obesity, which has been rising for decades and now affects about 1 in 5 U.S. kids.

Whether the program has begun to turn the tide for the whole country, and not just the groups of kids studied, is still unclear. About 30 million children in the U.S. receive school lunches each day.

"You have the potential to really impact their excess weight gain over the course of their entire childhood," said Dr. Aruna Chandran, a social epidemiologist with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She led the study published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, championed by former first lady Michelle Obama, was the first national legislation to improve school meals in more than 20 years. It increased the quantity of fruits, vegetables and whole grains required in school meals.

The new study analyzed nationwide data from 50 cohorts of schoolchildren from January 2005 to August 2016, before the law took effect, and data from September 2016 to March 2020, after it was fully implemented. Researchers calculated kids' body-mass index, a weight-to-height ratio.

It found that a body mass index for children, adjusted for age and gender, fell by 0.041 units per year, compared to before the law took effect. That amounts to about a quarter of one BMI unit per year, Chandran said. There was a slight decline in kids who were overweight or obese, too, the study showed.

One way to think of the change is that for a 10-year-old boy with an elevated body-mass index, the decline would amount to a 1-pound weight loss, noted Dr. Lauren Fiechtner, director of nutrition at MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study.

"This is important as even BMI flattening over time is likely important," she said. Holding kids' weight steady as they grow can help keep obesity in check.

Previous studies have shown weight-related effects of the federal law among children from low-income families. The new study is the first to find lower BMI in kids across all income levels.

At the same time, significant decreases in BMI measures were seen not only in kids ages 5 to 11, but also in those age 12 to 18.

"That's an incredible shift," Chandran said. "These are kids who potentially have their own autonomy to buy their own snacks."

The new results come within days of the release of updated standards for school meals, including the first limits on added sugars, decreased sodium and increased flexibility for whole grains. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the study shows that healthy school meals are "critical for tackling diet-related conditions like obesity."

But some researchers cautioned against interpreting the study's findings too broadly. Some of the children included in the study might not have been enrolled in school meals programs, or their district may not have fully implemented the nutrition requirements, said Kendrin Sonneville, associate professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Significantly, measures like BMI, even when adjusted for children, "should not be used as a proxy for health," she added.

A slight reduction in those measures, she said, "doesn't tell us whether the health, well-being, concerns related to food security of children participating in the school breakfast or lunch program improved."

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A new study offers hints that healthier school lunches may help reduce obesity

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The national study found a small but significant decline in the average BMI of more than 14,000 schoolkids after implementation of a 2010 federal law that boosted nutrition standards for school meals.

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Raise your hand for Healthy School Meals for All!

Check out FRAC's latest Healthy School Meals for All to learn the strategies of successful HSM4A campaigns from Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and Colorado.

Watch a feature on Healthy School Meals for All from Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. FRAC Director of School and Out-of-School Time Programs is featured on the practice of "lunch shaming."

Hear Minnesota Rep Ilhan Omar speak on the critical importance of Healthy School Meals for All in an exchange with USDA Food and Nutrition Service Administration Cindy Long at a hearing of the House Education and Labor Committee.

Learn how to start a Healthy School Meals for All campaign in your state in this FRAC webinar.

California has already passed legislation to provide school meals to all students at no cost to families, proving Healthy School Meals for All is a viable policy option to prevent hunger and support academic achievement.

Maine has already passed legislation to provide school meals to all students at no cost to families, proving Healthy School Meals for All is a viable policy option to prevent hunger and support academic achievement.

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Across the U.S., parents, teachers, students, doctors, nurses, dieticians, policymakers and many others are raising their hand in support of Healthy School Meals for All.

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Center for Science in the Public Interest

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Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA)

In 2010, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) made significant improvements to school foods and other child nutrition programs, providing children with more nutritious food options and teaching children healthy habits that can last a lifetime. The HHFKA established national nutrition standards for all food sold in schools, strengthened local wellness policies, improved the nutritional quality of school meals, strengthened accountability of school meals, and improved meal financing to support healthy school meals.

School Meals

The updated standards, set in 2012, aligned school meals with the latest nutrition science, established by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the National Academy of Sciences. Thanks to the updated standards, schools now offer more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, low-fat or non-fat milk, sensible limits on calories, and less unhealthy fats and salt, and healthier snacks and beverages. With one out of every three children overweight or obese and nearly 30 million children participating in the National School Lunch Program, these improvements are a key strategy for supporting children's health.

Final Rules

Nearly all schools are meeting the updated nutrition standards for school lunch, but continued attacks by USDA threaten progress made and child health. There is still more work to do to ensure all kids have access to healthy, appealing food at school.

General Resources

Participation

Plate Waste

Calories

Sodium

Whole Grains

Added Sugar

USDA Foods (Commodities)

Policy Options

Tips

For more information, contact the Center for Science in the Public Interest at policy@cspinet.org

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In 2010, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) made significant improvements to school foods and other child nutrition programs, providing children with more nutritious food options and teaching children healthy habits that can last a lifetime.

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30 Million Kids in American Schools Deserve Better Nutrition - Stanford Impact Labs

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The USDA proposed new nutrition standards for school meals.

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Children's healthiest meals of the day come from school cafeterias | CNN

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The number of unhealthy calories children consumed at school was cut in half - from 55% to 24% - between 2003 and 2018.

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Changes to the national school lunch program in the last decade that cracked down on sodium and fat content in school meals and required more fruits and vegetables could have reduced children's likelihood of becoming overweight, according to a new research paper.

While the Trump administration initially gave schools more time to comply with those Obama-era rules before attempting to largely roll them back, school meals changed, and those changes have likely made a difference, the research found. The conclusion potentially offers hope after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found last year that childhood obesity had gone up over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic as kids spent more time on screens and less time exercising.

"One thing is clear from the research, and that is that it really is helpful-the improvements to school meals have really made a difference," said Geri Henchy, director of nutrition policy for the Food Research & Action Center, an anti-hunger advocacy group.

"These results suggest that improvements in the nutritional content of school lunches have been largely successful in reversing the previously negative relationship between school lunches and childhood obesity," the researchers concluded.

School meals reach lots of kids

To assess whether school meals make children more or less likely to become obese, the researchers evaluated data on the quality of school meals between 1991 and 2010, before the Obama administration's tighter nutrition standards took effect. They then tracked a nationally representative group of children from when they entered kindergarten in 2010 and completed 5th grade in 2016, controlling for children who already entered kindergarten overweight.

That period covered the start of the stricter nutrition standards, which were largely phased in over a three-year period starting with the 2012-13 school year.

It is difficult to detect whether a single change in children's lives has much of an impact on childhood obesity, the researchers acknowledged, but school meals are a key policy lever simply because of their reach.

"The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) serves meals to over half of the nation's school-aged population each school day, so improvements to the nutritional quality of school meals could have important impacts on obesity-particularly in light of research that found participating in school lunch increased children's caloric intake and body weight," the report said.

The researchers, Therese Bonomo and Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, analyzed two waves of school lunch menus prior to and after the nutrition guidelines were changed. They found that the number of calories served per meal was generally lower in the later wave of menus, regardless of school characteristics.

Then, they estimated the relationship between school lunch participation and the rate of students' weight gain from the beginning of kindergarten through 5th grade.

After the nutrition standards changed, they found, students who ate school lunches were no more likely to be overweight than students who brought their food from home.

"This indicates that there were substantial changes in content of school lunches over time, perhaps due to [the changes] and/or the momentum leading up to it," the report concludes. "Thus, there is reason to believe that the relationship between school lunch participation and obesity may have also changed."

From Obama to Trump to Biden, uneven implementation

Despite its apparent success, the implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act has faced a rocky road.

The changes the legislation brought on were initially met with some criticism and resistance, as students across the country took to social media to criticize the smaller portion sizes and different food choices.

One video Kansas high school students produced- a parody song called "We Are Hungry" to the tune of the song "We Are Young" by Fun-racked up more than 1.5 million views on YouTube and caught the attention of national policymakers. Even more students complained on platforms like Twitter under the hashtag #ThanksMichelleObama.

Then, in 2020, the Trump administration announced plans to further roll back the nutrition guidelines, targeting the fruit and vegetable requirements, to allow schools more flexibility and reduce food waste, USDA officials said at the time.

Soon after, a federal judge overturned the 2018 Trump rollback, finding the final rule differed too much from the version the Trump administration put out for public comment.

"It hasn't progressed in a straight line-there's been a lot of back-and-forth," Henchy said. "But we're moving forward again."

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Above The Noise
Season 1 Episode 16 | 5m 25s |

We all know the stereotypes. If you're up early, you're a go-getter. If you sleep in, you're lazy. But how much control do you REALLY have over when you go to bed and when you wake up? And why are teens notorious for sleeping in?

Aired: 03/09/18

Rating: NR

Problems Playing Video? Report a Problem |

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Above The Noise | Why Can't Teens Wake Up Early For School? | Season 1 | Episode 16

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Above The Noise Season 1 Episode 16 | 5m 25s | We all know the stereotypes. If you're up early, you're a go-getter. If you sleep in, you're lazy. But how much control do you REALLY have over when you go to bed and when you wake up?

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New Zealand banned phones in schools 12 months ago. Here’s what happened

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New Zealand banned phones in schools 12 months ago. Here’s what happened

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