After some initial resistance, most students like the healthier meals that first appeared in public elementary schools two years ago, according to a study published by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The study is the first to examine students’ reaction to mandated changes to school meal plans.

Seventy percent of school administrators reported that their students generally like the healthier school lunches that rolled out in fall 2012. Approximately half of respondents (56 percent) reported that students complained at first, but student acceptance greatly increased by spring 2013.

“The updated meals standards are resulting in healthier meals for tens of millions of kids,” said Dr. Lindsey Turner, lead author of the study and research scientists at the Institute for Health Research and Policy. The study appears online in the journal Childhood Obesity. To read more, click here.