New study says school meals became healthier after regulation changes

A study by the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that the nutrition of school meals has improved since implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) in 2010, The New York Times reports.

Researchers looked at school lunch and breakfast menus over a one-week period during the 2009-10 school year, before HHFKA went into effect, and compared them to lunch and breakfast menus over a week during the 2014-15 school year, after HHFKA had been implemented. 

They found that healthy-eating index scores for school meals rose significantly after the implementation of HHFKA. Lunch scores went from 58% to 82%, and breakfast scores increased from 50% to 70%.

The study only examined changes to the menu and did not look at how much food the students ate versus how much was thrown away.