Teacher Resource Center

• Only 2 percent of students are meeting all the recommendations of the USDA Dietary Guidelines; 16 percent do not meet any
• Less than 15 percent of school children eat the recommended servings of fruit
• Less than 20 percent eat the recommended servings of vegetables
• About 25 percent eat the recommended servings of grains
• Only 30 percent consume the recommended milk group servings
• Only 19 percent of girls ages 9 to 19 meet the recommended intakes for calcium
• Only 16 percent of school children meet the guidelines for saturated fat

The Consequences are Troubling

• Childhood obesity is a national epidemic, likely to result in earlier onset and increased prevalence of disease
• The percentage of young people who are overweight has more than doubled in the past 30 years
• Unhealthy eating and physical inactivity are causes of obesity and chronic disease, resulting in at least 300,000 deaths each year
• Poor nutrition associated with heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes, alone, now costs $71 billion a year