USDA proposes more-healthful fare

Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, MO.

As teachers lament seeing toddlers too large to fit in playground swings, a federal program that feeds millions of low-income children may be overhauled for the first time in almost 50 years, aiming to make the meals at day cares healthier and reduce obesity.

About 3.8 million young children are fed daily through the Child and Adult Care Food Program, which primarily reimburses day-care providers, and also provides food for children in emergency shelters and pays for after-school meals or snacks in areas where at least half the students qualify for free- or reduced-price lunches.

Millions of more affluent children also are affected because at least 30 states – including North Carolina, Michigan, Oregon and Virginia – require day cares to use the program’s nutrition guidelines to receive licenses. And beyond children, about 120,000 elderly or disabled adults are fed each day in programs designed to spell caregivers.

More vegetables and less sugar lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s proposals, developed with guidance from experts.