WASHINGTON TERRACE, Utah – Thousands of students in Utah’s Weber School District no longer eat lunch at school because of “healthier” federal lunch regulations imposed on schools by First Lady Michelle Obama and federal bureaucrats.

At least 2,000 fewer students are eating lunch at the Weber School District’s 44 schools since federal officials imposed the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 on the nation’s schools. The federal lunch program overhaul requires school lunch supervisors to adhere to strict sodium and calorie counts and other requirements, the Standard-Examiner reports.

The changes mean schools that participate in the federal free and reduced lunch program must use breads made of at least 50 percent whole grains, increase vegetable and fruit servings, and decrease meat and bread portion sizes.

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The regulations also force schools to limit the number of calories in school meals, and to withhold extra helpings, which has drawn complaints from parents of student athletes, Weber school officials told the news site.

“We’ve had comments from parents saying their son plays football, and he is not getting enough to eat,” said Kathleen Harris, the district’s child nutrition program supervisor.

In the past, new school menus resulted in a temporary decrease in students eating lunch at school, followed by an increase once students adapt. But since 2010, Weber officials said, there’s been a steady decline, despite efforts by school leaders to bring parents in for taste tests and recipe contests, the news site reports.

More students than ever are bringing their lunches from home, and it’s a nationwide trend, Harris said.

“Everybody’s down because of these changes,” she said.

More students are bringing their lunches from home than before, Harris said. School officials can’t control what students pack in their lunchboxes, which means the federal government’s efforts to force students to eat healthier is likely backfiring, Harris said.

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Several school districts across the nation have decided to drop out of the federal lunch program because of declining revenues, but Harris told the Standard-Examiner she plans to stick with the “healthier” menu as long as the lunch program continues to turn a profit. Harris said daily participation in the lunch program has slid from about 22,000 students in 2010 to about 18,000 with the new menu.

“It is not anything I have thought about,” Harris said of dropping the federal lunch standards. “As long as the program runs in the black, I will stay with the national program.”