Nutrition & Public Health

Students Still Get Too Many Sugary Beverages

by Mary Rothschild | Nov 02, 2010

Children continue to have easy access at school to sugary sodas and flavored milk, according to a study published Monday in the online Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

The national study by the University of Illinois at Chicago was based on surveys mailed to a representative sample of elementary school administrators over three academic years, from 2008 through 2009.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture National School Lunch Program, which served meals to more than 31 million students in 2008, does not allow sweetened beverages, but students often buy drinks from vending machines, school stores or lunch room snack bars.

There have been widespread efforts to remove these so-called "competitive beverages" from schools, and the Institute of Medicine has called for competitive beverages in elementary schools to be limited to water, 100 percent juice and nonfat or 1 percent flavored or unflavored milk.

The  University of Illinois study found that in the 2008-09 school year, 16.1 percent of elementary school students only had access to those healthier sorts of beverages, up from just 10 percent two years earlier.  And public school students' access to higher-fat milk (defined as 2 percent or whole milk) at lunchtime decreased from 77.9 percent in 2006-07 to 68.3 percent in 2008-09.

Nevertheless, the researchers said flavored milk was available at lunch on most days for 92.1 percent of public elementary school students.
 
And overall, the study found that elementary school students access to high-calorie, sweet beverages for sale in any lunch-program competing venue (vending machines, stores, or a la carte snack bars) increased from 49 percent in 2006-07 to 61.3 percent two years later. 

The study authors conclude that much remains to be done to reduce the availability of unhealthy beverages in elementary schools and suggest that policy makers, school officials and parents continue to work together to address the issue.


© Food Safety News

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SNA President Nancy Rice
11/02/2010
11:29AM

The availability of high-calorie beverages in schools is one of the reasons why school nutrition professionals have been calling on Congress to pass S 3307, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. If we truly are serious about decreasing obesity and promoting healthy lifestyles for our children, Congress must enact nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools. It is only logical that children should receive the same message about healthy food choices offered in all areas of the school, whether in the cafeteria, the gymnasium, or in vending machines. Check out www.TrayTalk.org for information on how schools are working to provide students with more nutritious options.

School Nutrition Association President Nancy Rice, M.Ed., RD, LD, SNS

Clay Boggess
11/04/2010
5:58AM

It is good to see the schools are working to eliminate competing vending machines as long as the students are taught the importance of consuming healthy beverages and why other drinks may not be a good choice. This process needs to start in the home at an early age. Parents are often guilty of giving their children what they want in order to 'pacify the moment' instead of what they need. Developing good exercise habits is also vitally important.

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