DETROIT – More newspapers are turning against Michelle Obama’s overhaul of the National School Lunch Program.

The Detroit News opines:

Politics and school lunches don’t mix. In fact, the federal guidelines attempting to promote healthier school meals are causing local school officials major headaches.

The healthier food is driving students away from lunch programs.

Oakland Intermediate Schools reports that student participation has dropped by more than 4,700 meals per day — more than 5 percent — since guidelines went into effect in 2012.

MORE NEWS: From Classroom to Consulate Chef: Culinary Student Lands Dream Job at U.S. Embassy in Paris

“The federal regulations have taken control of a matter that should have been left in the hands of parents and local school boards,” the News concludes.

Meanwhile, Minnesota’s St. Cloud Times is equally unimpressed.

Since the rollout of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, students and their parents have easily been the loudest critics of the new federal school lunch standards.

Portions that are too small yet cost more. Side dishes, entrees and even condiments that aren’t very tasty. And, of course, few to no “junk food” choices.

While that last complaint is hard to justify, the others are not — especially for students who are supposed to find an 850-calorie lunch adequate sustenance before an after-school activity that may require them to burn double those calories by day’s end.

 The paper points to survey results from the School Nutrition Association:

* Last school year, 46 percent of respondents reported overall program revenue decreased while 87 percent reported an increase in food costs. Nationwide, about 23 percent of districts reported their meal programs operated at a loss for at least the past six months.

* 85 percent predict their costs will increase school year while 43 percent expect revenues to decline.

* More than 60 percent anticipate whole grain mandates will increase their average cost of preparing school meals this school year.

* And 81 percent report an increase in the amount of food being thrown away by students at lunch. Vegetables are most frequently identified as causing the increase in plate waste.

“While it might have been easy to ignore angry students and parents, those survey results and the USDA’s own records clearly show the federal program has gone too far. It’s time for Congress to dial back parts of the act and find a more balanced approach to providing appealing, healthy meals to students,” the editorial board writes.

“Failure to do that will not only force more students to find meals elsewhere, it will continue to be a drag on school districts’ resources, revenues and even morale.”

Other newspapers, including the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and the Marietta Daily Journal have penned similar condemnations.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

“Such micromanagement of community life is in keeping with the ‘government knows best’ agenda behind federal diktats on toilets’ water consumption and what light bulbs can and can’t be sold. Hopefully, bake sales are where Americans will draw a line — by telling government ‘hands off!’ when it comes to cookies and cupcakes that both sweeten and enrich the educational experience,” the Tribune-Review opined in August.

“Should it be Washington’s job to micromanage what snacks are consumed by school students in this country? With test scores generally stagnant and with many critics saying our schools are lagging well behind those of many other Westernized countries? One would think the federal Departments of Agriculture and Education — and their boss in the White House — would have more important things on which to focus. But no,” the Daily Journal editorialized in an August edition.