The Department of Agriculture is looking to change school lunch standards but critics are pushing back.

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Today Explained: The Fight Over School Lunch Changes

It's time now for today explained this is where we break down some of the biggest stories in the news, how we got here and where we go next. The White House is raising nutrition standards for school meals. But big business is already pushing back saying reducing sugar, fat and salt could make school meals less tasty and therefore not as appealing to students. I'm gonna lay out the facts so you can decide. Everyone agrees that poor nutrition is a problem for Americans and students. Since the 1990s, childhood obesity rates have tripled CDC data shows and estimates almost 20% of young people between the ages of two and 19 are obese. The American Academy of pediatrics says this condition is associated with hypertension, diabetes and depression, biden's new rules will limit added sugar, reduced sodium levels and push whole grain foods. But does this sound familiar? Obama imposed a similar standard that requires schools to offer more fruits and veggies serve only skim or low fat milk and cut trans fat. The trump administration weakened Obama's rules essentially saying healthy food is not gonna get eaten if it doesn't taste good, Biden wants to change that over the next two years. In 2024 schools will have to offer primarily whole grain foods. In 2025. High sugar products like sweetened yogurts or even chocolate milk will be limited and existing weekly sodium limits will shrink by 10%. Industry groups say these are bitter changes they want to make kids food more likely to be eaten. And they say the changes will make kids less likely to eat it. Now, the International dairy Food Association is warning that the U. S. D. A. S. Has a 90% that 90% of all americans don't get the recommended daily amount of dairy and that taking sweetness out is gonna make them even more unlikely to consume dairy. Now, these new guidelines are gonna have a huge impact on low-income students and Children. More than 70% of students who eat school meals come from low-income families. They are more likely to be obese than kids from wealthier families. This issue, it's not black and white. Those are the facts, you decide.