School Meals, Healthy Foods And Feeding Kids During A Pandemic

On this West Virginia Morning, we continue our series on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the state’s youngest residents, including how one county is making sure thousands of students are fed while schools are closed.

Schools across West Virginia are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the West Virginia Board of Education, all 55 counties in West Virginia have organized programs to provide meals for their students.

In Cabell County, school bus drivers are making food deliveries daily. Last month, in the early days of the school closures, reporter Kyle Vass tagged along with staff to find out more.

Shortly before schools were closed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the USDA proposed changes to nutrition standards for school meals. But some health researchers worry that these changes could undo all the progress schools have made to improve health outcomes in children. Roxy Todd spoke with one researcher who recently published a study on how school nutrition has improved in the past eight years, and why reversing these trends could be detrimental for millions of kids across the country.

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