By Mike Shields
KHI News Service
A
2006 KHI report
showed that almost 59 percent of Kansas public schools, representing an estimated 269,000 children, provide vending machine offerings every school day. This picture shows a student at Lawrence High School in Lawrence getting items from a machine in the school”s eating area. (Photo Image Bank)
TOPEKA, Dec. 10
A move in Congress to restrict junk food in schools and broaden the U.S. Department of Agriculture”s power to regulate snacks, meals and beverages offered to students is meeting unexpected resistance, including here in Kansas.
Because of the childhood obesity epidemic, the proposed limits on candy, most sugary drinks, and salty or fatty foods, are something many call overdue.
The new rules are in an
amendment
offered by U.S. Sens. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, to the 2007 farm bill, which is still stalled in the Senate.
The changes are backed by many health and education groups and also are endorsed by Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola and the snack giant Frito-Lay.
Opposition
But opponents, including the national School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, and child health specialists at the Kansas Department of Education,
say the amendment
is flawed
:
It doesn”t go far enough, writes nutrition standards into law instead of leaving that to scientists, and provides no new funding for schools to deal with the changes it would bring.
They also oppose the amendment because it would replace state school nutrition guidelines, in the states that have them, with new federal ones but let local school districts develop or keep their own stricter guidelines. The critics say that would create a patchwork of regulation across the nation.
“What they did was put some language in there that said all states that have established (school nutrition) guidelines would have to give them up and adopt federal guidelines,” said Jodi Mackey, director of child nutrition and wellness at the Kansas Department of Education. “But they also went on to say that localitiesL.A. public schools, for example, or who knows how many other school districts across the countrycould keep their guidelines.
“The nutritional needs of children across the nation are the same and we should have one set of science-based guidelines for all children,” Mackey said.
Unlike many states, Kansas has no mandatory guidelines for school foods. School cafeterias must comply with current USDA regulations but so-called “competitive” foods, snacks and drinks sold in vending machines, offered in kiosks or a la carte are unregulated. The Kansas education department recommends that school districts restrict junk foods, but does not require it.
The Kansas Health Policy Authority in the health reform plan it presented to legislators last month has recommended that the state begin restricting competitive foods in schools, pointing out that
17 percent of Kansas elementary students are overweight
.
The rationale behind that recommendation is the same one driving the Harkin-Murkowski amendment.
Breaking ranks
Some Kansas food service directors have broken ranks with the national group to say they favor the Harkin-Murkowski amendment.
Nicole Jahnke is the food service director at Topeka”s USD 501, which last month served an average 13,000 meals a day. She said she liked the idea of limiting junk food and would not oppose the amendment. She and others putting together a district wellness plan discussed last week the possibility of limiting competitive junk food in the district but agreed making those changes would be difficult because principals count on profits from competitive food sales to help augment tight budgets.
“I think they’re emotional about that,” she said of the building principals. “I think they feel if we put in healthy products, they’ll lose money.”
There are studies
that show school beverage contracts are not as lucrative as they seem.
Other reports have shown that replacing junk food with healthier offerings doesn”t necessarily mean less money for schools.
Jahnke said she”s convinced that would be the case in her district, too.
“There are a lot of kids who are health conscious. More so than their parents,” she said.
Jahnke, like most food service directors in Kansas, has no control over the competitive foods served in her district. She oversees only the USDA-regulated school lunches and breakfasts served in the cafeterias.
She said she has been working steadily to make that fare healthier, mindful that the offerings must also appeal to youthful tastes.
“If the food is so healthy the kids won’t eat it, then you’re not serving anyone’s needs,” she said.
Two years ago, she had the deep-fat fryers removed from the schools”
kitchens.
All high schools now have salad bars, too. Some students grumbled a bit about missing the fried foods, but now the district is serving more meals than ever, Jahnke said, and a high percentage of students – even those with the option of eating elsewhere choose the school meals.
“We’ve actually seen our numbers increase for breakfast and lunch,” she said.
Gayle Price, a licensed dietician and a member of the Girard school board, also said she thought tighter federal regulation of junk food in schools would be helpful.
“Given the current obesity epidemic and what it means for quality of life and health care costs,” Price said, “…I think we’re to the point where we need some federal guidelines.”
Smaller portions
Among other things, the farm bill amendment would restrict portion sizes. Snacks in elementary and middles schools could have no more than 180 calories; 200 calories for high schools. Foods would be limited in saturated and trans fat.
Beverages would be held to 8 ounce servings. In elementary and middle schools, only bottled water, fruit juice and plain or flavored low-fat milk up to 170 calories could be sold. Diet soda and calorie-restricted sports drinks would be added to the list for high school students.
Marion Nestle is a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University. She has studied the increase in portion sizes eaten by Americans, most recently co-authoring
an article published this year
in the Journal of Public Health Policy on the growth of fast-food portions.
She also is author of the book “Food Politics.”
She said her research has shown that competitive food portions in schools have also increased dramatically over time.
“No question,” she said. “While I was writing ‘Food Politics’ in 2001, the soft drink sizes in school vending machines changed from 12 to 20 ounces. I”m sure there are other examples.”
Though critics of the farm bill amendment say they dislike the fact that it would set in law nutritional standards, supporters say the standards it would set are relatively simple and unlikely to be mooted by future findings in nutrition science.
KHI nutrition expert Candace Ayars was among those who attended a childhood obesity summit sponsored by the University of Missouri last week.
The Harkin-Murkowski amendment was a topic of discussion.
“The thinking of the researchers and policy analysts was that this is a positive move in addressing the obesity epidemic, a good first step.” Ayars said.
-Mike Shields is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. He can be reached at
mshields@khi.org
or at 785-233-5443, ext. 123.