Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Editorial: Junk snack food at school
Vending machines competing with school lunches ought to offer nutritional choices.
From the RoundTable blog
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It's encouraging to see a bill gaining favor in the General Assembly that would require schools to stock vending machines with healthier snacks. It would be even better if school boards decided on their own to remove the machines or, at the very least, set them on timers so that kids couldn't nosh during the school day.
Long gone are the days when school food meant mystery meat served by the lunch lady or the PB&J carried in a brown bag from home.
While schools are trying to dish out more nutritious meals, they're diluting their efforts by allowing banks of vending machines to compete for kids' lunch money.
A bill passed by the state Senate might help. It would require the state Board of Education to set nutritional guidelines for "all competitive foods sold to students during regular school hours." The board would need to consider calories, fat, sugar and salt -- items few kids think about when searching for something "good to eat."
Putting unhealthy snacks out of schoolchildren's reach might, in some small measure, help combat the high incidence of child obesity.
It is a cause that first lady Michelle Obama is pushing by encouraging better nutrition for children and more physical activity incorporated into their daily routines.
In launching her campaign, Obama noted how difficult it is for time-pressed families to eat well.
"It's easy to live healthy when you live in the White House. ... I had a hard time doing it before I lived in the White House," she said. "Picking up a burger was a godsend."
Parents might be tempted on those drive-through days to rationalize that their children ate a healthy school lunch -- which might not necessarily be so if their schools have vending machines.
Lawmakers aren't being asked to ban school vending machines, though they should. As long as schools enjoy the riches they earn from the machines, that won't happen. The next best thing is to stock them with better choices.
