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States Take on Fighting Childhood Obesity

Posted: Friday, February 27, 2004

Last year, California became the first state to ban soft drink sales at elementary and junior high schools. Proponents pushing for a similar law in New York say the state could potentially see savings in Medicaid costs.

"As a former teacher, I think it's the responsibility of our schools and educators to teach good habits to our children," said Assemblywoman Sandra Galef, a Westchester County, N.Y., Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill.

Childhood obesity has become a major public health concern as the ranks of overweight children in the United States tripled over the last three decades. Obesity has been associated with diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and arthritis.

Critics argue that by focusing on school vending machines, states ignore other ways to help children lose weight like promoting a balanced diet and increasing physical education and nutrition classes in schools.

New York already prohibits the sale of candy and soda from school vending machines until the last lunch period. Galef's proposal goes a step farther with an outright ban of junk food and carbonated drinks in school vending machines, and by encouraging schools to stock machines with healthier alternatives like granola bars, fresh fruit, bottled water and milk.

The New York State School Board Association cautioned that more research is needed to determine the fiscal impact of the proposed law on school districts, which heavily rely on vending machine sales to pay for computers, sports programs and after-school activities.

Annual income from contracts between schools and vendors varies, with some schools raising as much as $100,000 a year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures' Health Policy Tracking Service.

Hawaii wants to banish vending machines from public schools unless vendors replace fatty food with healthy choices. Massachusetts supports a ban on soft drinks in its public and charter schools. Utah favors getting rid of junk food in vending machines in its elementary schools.

Minnesota proposes that school districts sell milk and fruit drinks at a lower price than non-nutritional drinks. Vermont wants districts to adopt guidelines for nutrition in vending machines. In Indiana, where some districts make up to $300,000 a year from vending machine contracts, there is mixed reaction to a bill requiring that at least half the choices be healthy.

The National Soft Drink Association says parents and local school districts, not states, should determine what children eat and drink in school. The trade group says soft drink companies already offer a variety of drinks to students including bottled water, juice and sports drinks.

"We don't believe that a restrictive approach where you single out a particular food or beverage is going to work," said association spokeswoman Kathleen Dezio.

Besides states, cities and individual school districts are taking the obesity issue into their own hands.

Last September, New York City banished hard candy, doughnuts and soda from vending machines in the nation's largest school system, serving about 1 million children. School vending machines will continue to sell cookies, potato chips and pretzels, among other snacks, along with all-juice drinks and water. Earlier this month, the Philadelphia school district, which serves 214,000 students, decided to halt soda sales in vending machines effective this July.

Source: Macon Telegraph