Schools Do Math On Junk
Soda, Chips, Candy Get Boot as Districts Battle Obesity
By Amy McFall Prince, The Columbian Staff Writer
Saturday, January 8, 2005
A counting game is surfacing in schools, and at its forefront are calories, fat grams and the number of minutes children spend on physical activity.
Following suit with school districts across the country, a new Washington state law is prodding administrators to take a look at how they can help combat childhood obesity.
The law requires school districts to adopt guidelines for providing more nutritious foods and physical activities by August.
The guidelines could cover anything from the drinks stocked in vending machines to the criteria for physical education waivers.
The Vancouver School District is the local front-runner in complying with the law, although it has yet to make any bold changes. It and other districts in Clark County are forming committees to determine what the policies should include.
Critics say little will change. Many say the law is too weak and doesn't force schools to take action.
"There's really no teeth to it. There's no one who's going to be checking up on it," said Shelley Curtis, manager of food policy for the Children's Alliance, a Seattle-based statewide organization that works to shape public policy on behalf of children.
Curtis helped the Seattle School District develop a nutrition policy in September that, among other things, banned the sale of soda and junk food in vending machines.
"We really are not pioneers in the country. I really wish we could say we were, but I do think we have one of the stronger policies in the country," said Brita Butler-Wall, Seattle school board president.
Seattle's ban on sugary, empty-calorie drinks echoes that of districts in Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia.
Clark County districts have yet to follow Seattle's lead, but they're still early in the process of determining what to do.
The need to set nutrition policies came up at a routine superintendent's meeting on Friday, but so far schools and districts are all at different stages in adopting changes.
Vancouver schools plan to list nutrition information for healthy foods sold both in cafeteria lines and vending machines, said Ellen Boggs, district director of health and physical education.
Already, three Vancouver middle schools, Alki, Jason Lee and McLoughlin, stopped selling sodas this year in their vending machines. But they still stock fruit and sports drinks that contain excess sugar.
For now, decisions about what to stock in school vending machines are made by student groups. They are the ones who receive the revenue from the machines, which topped $500,000 during the 2002- 2003 school year. The fear of losing those sales could become part of the policy-making discussion.
At Battle Ground High School, students will no longer have the option to buy candies such as licorice and gummy worms in vending machines, said Mary Beth Lynn, the district's business manager.
"That wasn't a change in policy, that was just something we talked about," she said.
A weighty issue
Despite Vancouver's local leadership on nutrition, board member Mari Greves said she is disappointed that the district isn't further along in addressing the issue.
She provided copies of nutrition policies from districts such as Chicago and Philadelphia to give her board some ideas.
Greves recently saw a district film from the 1950s that put the problem into perspective.
"I was struck, I was totally struck ... there were no fat kids," she said. "Today, the students wouldn't look that way. It's a national tragedy, and it's something we have to be aware of."
She's not alone in her concern. A local doctor recently contacted Greves to impress upon her the importance of addressing nutrition. The pediatrician had just seen a 300-pound high school student.
Greves and many others are comparing the nutrition issue to smoking. She recalls being on a PTA council when the discussions began that led to a ban against smoking on campuses.
"People said that couldn't happen," she said. "Now we look back and that seems foolish."
Shaping young lives
Camas Interim Superintendent Al Davidian said schools need to better appreciate the influence they have in shaping children's habits.
"We have these kids for 12 years. These are building blocks. Their lifestyle, their socialization, a considerable amount of that takes place at a school. To say this is something that kids have to learn on their own, I totally disagree with that," Davidian said.
Curtis of the Children's Alliance suggests that schools look to experts in their communities when developing the committees.
Doctors and dietitians should be on the list, if possible, she said.
Schools should start by making a complete inventory of what foods and drinks students have access to on campus, Curtis said. Districts should also ask vendors for a list of products they offer.
"The really important part of this between now and August is to get community members involved. I'm trying to get the word out to folks, trying to tell them to call their school board and ask to be on the committee," she said.
Seattle board member Butler-Wall helped draft the legislation that was passed last spring, but she agrees with critics who charge that the law doesn't do enough.
"I would have preferred to have seen statewide guidelines around nutrition in schools," she said, noting the new law doesn't require any specific changes.
Later this month, she will testify in favor of new legislation that would require schools to follow more precise guidelines for food sold both in cafeterias and student stores. She would also like to see portion sizes addressed and ask districts to use local produce vendors whenever possible.
Curtis wants districts to keep in mind that healthy eating isn't about cutting out the bad foods. Schools need to show students that fresh fruits and vegetables, smaller portions, and higher quality food are just as essential as cutting the fats.
"If we really want to model healthy eating behaviors and if we really want kids to make choices that will benefit their health, we need to provide them with healthier choices," she said.
Amy McFall Prince covers education for The Columbian. She can be reached at amy.prince@columbian.com or 360-759-8019.
Did you know?
* In the past 30 years, the number of U.S. teens who are overweight has more than doubled to 15.5 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
* More than a quarter of adolescents in eighth, 10th and 12th grades reported drinking two or more sodas a day in Washington's 2002 Healthy Youth Survey.
* The focus on nutrition is extending beyond fat and calories. In Olympia, students in elementary schools can choose from an organic salad bar.