Docs Want Cheesesteak Off Philly School Menus - Philadelphia News, Weather and Sports from WTXF FOX 29

Schools in Philadelphia are getting a "C" average for the quality of school lunches, according to a report by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

The report, which was issued this month, takes a look at the meals served by the National School Lunch Program in schools across the country.

Philadelphia schools received a score of 75. Among the reviews for Philly schools, physicians said menu items, such as the Philly cheesteak, left room for improvement.

The district also lost points for serving vegetarian options only once or twice per week.

Despite the C grade, the school district has seen improvement. In 2002, the PCRM gave Philly schools an F. In 2003, the district received a B-.

Pinellas County Schools in Florida received a score of 100, while Milwaukee Public Schools in Wisconsin received a 64.

The report card is the PCRM's eighth to be published.

The PCRM says this year's report card shows a major shift in the healthfulness of school lunches.

"Unfortunately, some districts lag behind. Menus in these schools are full of high-fat, high-cholesterol dairy products and processed meats, such as hot dogs and pepperoni, which are linked to increased colorectal cancer risk," the report read.

The PCRM says the National School Lunch Program, which was created in 1946, serves approximately 31 million lunches per day at a cost of $11.1 billion a year.

You can download a PDF copy of the full report from the PCRM website.