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Our schools just got a little healthier!
Marlo Mittler, RD
Have you heard the latest news?
It seems that the nation’s schools are about to improve their grades when it comes to being healthy. In fact, thanks to the efforts set forth by the William J. Clinton Foundation, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and the American Heart Association, the availability of soda in schools is about to change.
Under the conditions of this new deal, elementary and middle schools will offer only unsweetened juice, low fat milk and water. In high schools, diet soda will remain along with drinks with less than 100 calories per serving. All other soda will no longer be available. While the deal was announced earlier this month, it gives until 2008 to go into effect. Why the wait? Some say it is due to the soda contracts already in place at many schools across the country.
The hope is that with a decrease in soda consumption, the obesity epidemic might decline as well. That makes sense, right? With over 75% of kids drinking soda on a daily basis, and with the average kid taking in about 250 to 325 calories of soda a day, according to the Mayo Clinic, it should make a difference. The problem remains that we have two more years until this goes into effect. What happens until then? From 1980 to 2000 childhood obesity has doubled. Why wait another two years?
Instead, parents, PTAs, teachers, coaches, and students themselves should take an active part in helping to get this new guideline moving in their schools. There is no reason to wait but plenty of reasons to get started. The facts are simple: excess sugar – a.k.a. soda and sweetened drinks – leads to obesity, caffeine speeds up heart rates, phosphoric acid in soda interferes with 
calcium absorption in the bones and artificial sweeteners are linked to many health concerns.
It is time to step up and help your school make the grade! You can have the PTA sell water, get the soda machines converted to selling water (after all, many soda companies own the water companies), have the teachers only allow water bottles in class, and educate students on the harmful effects of soda on growth and health. What a great time to introduce your school to True Lemon® or True Lime™. Then the kids can have the option of a great flavor along with the benefits of water.
So only time will tell us how this plan plays out. We hope that by 2008 we will see a lot more water drinkers and a lot less obesity in our schools. Then we will know that in fact the schools did get a little healthier after all!
