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March
29, 2005 By David Steves The proposals, Senate Bills 560 and 860, seek to limit students'
access to junk food. They're among several proposals this session as Oregon
lawmakers join the national effort to turn back a rising tide of obesity-related
problems among children. Other bills would require physical education or require
schools to measure students' body mass indexes and report the results to
parents. Senate Bill 860, sponsored by Sen. Joanne Verger, D-Coos Bay,
would ban the sale of food or drink during school hours that federal guidelines
deem to be of "minimal nutritional value." Senate Bill 560, sponsored by Sen. Bill Morrisette,
D-Springfield, would go further. Only food that meets the federal nutritional
standards for school meals - along with more stringent standards laid out in the
bill - could be sold on school grounds. The bill's new minimum state standards would ban candy,
carbonated soft drinks, fried pastry products and vending machines that
advertise food or drink that doesn't meet state standards. It would allow fruits, vegetables, items made from whole grains,
12-ounce drinks with 50 percent juice, bottled water, non- or low-fat milk, and
12-ounce yogurt or fruit-juice smoothies. Snack items and entrees would have to
meet standards for calories, fat, sugar, fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals. An exception to the junk-food ban would be made for food and
drinks sold at school-sponsored events that begin no earlier than 30 minutes
from the end of classes. At Monday's public hearing, school food service directors said
Morrisette's bill wouldn't just halt the sale of creme-filled snack cakes and
sugar-laden soda pop, but also many of the typical entrees they regularly serve
to schoolchildren, including burritos, hamburgers and chicken-patty sandwiches. Janet Beer, director of food service at the Tigard-Tualatin
School District and president of the Oregon Child Nutrition Coalition, told
lawmakers that meeting the bill's standards for entrees would drive up costs for
districts, which would have to employ dietary experts to assess the fat,
calorie, sugar and nutritional content per serving. Robin Stromberg, food service director for Grants Pass schools
and president of the Oregon School Food Service Association, said rooting out
less healthy food options would prompt high schoolers to turn to convenience
stores and fast-food outlets during lunch. That could mean a $16,000 loss of vending-machine revenue to the
district, and $10,000 drop in student spending for district-provided lunch
entrees. "It all adds up to be a financial burden on my school
district," he said. Industries that profit from the sale of snacks and beverages at
schools weighed in against the restrictions, too. Eric Forrest, an executive
with a Eugene-based soft drink distributor, argued that it's actually beneficial
for students to pass by vending machines in their schools that offer a variety
of soft drinks for sale; this way, they learn to choose when it's appropriate to
have a sugary soft drink and when they would be better off purchasing water or a
sports drink, said Forrest, vice president of the MLF Group, a Pepsi
distribution business. Forrest also is a member of the Eugene School Board. But health care and child-welfare advocates said the health-care
crisis brought on by children's unhealthy lifestyles was so severe that the
Legislature's action was required in limiting student access to fattening foods
and drinks. According to figures in a new report to the Oregon Board of
Education, among Oregon eighth-graders: • 23 percent are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight. • 27 percent met recommendations for five or more servings a
day of fruits and vegetables. • 34 percent drink seven or more soft drinks per week. Dr. Scott Schieber, a family-practitioner from McMinnville, said
he sees evidence of the growing problem of childhood obesity in his own
practice. "I am treating children of this state for asthma, reflux
disease, depression and even type 2 diabetes, all occurring as a result of being
significantly overweight," he said. Schieber agreed with opponents that the causes of the growing
number of overweight children aren't limited to unhealthy food and drink, but
also the lack of exercise and other factors. Still, he said, Morrisette's bill
is a step in the right direction, because it addresses the problem of unhealthy
food at school. Jonah Edelman, executive director of Stand for Children, said
children and their parents are up against a marketing blitz pushing unhealthy
food and drink products that is part of the $15 billion spent each year on youth
marketing. "Our children are being bombarded by enticements to make unhealthy choices," he said. "The last place they need more encouragement to consume sugar-laden, high-fat junk food is in their schools." |