With childhood obesity rates soaring, school districts across the country will now be held to federal guidelines for nutrition in school cafeterias, according to an article today in the New York Times. Food and drinks not sold during designated school mealtimes, such as those from vending machines or at birthday parties, will not be held to the federal guidelines. Some children will of course beeline to the vending machine when they are looking to satisfy cravings, but they may find themselves on a wild goose chase -- many states have gone one step farther and created their own policies restricting many childhood goodies at any point during school hours.
For years there has been controversy about banning so-called junk food, a topic that ACSH asserts is not the way to curb childhood obesity. The bottom line is that weight is an issue of calories in versus calories out. Therefore, in order to lose weight, kids (or anyone for that matter) need to expend more calories than they consume. This is true regardless of whether the calories are from a serving of French fries or a fruit drink. The federal guidelines overlook a very important fact -- there's no such thing as bad food. The fact that these guidelines ban popsicles in schools but allow a Snickers candy bar (because it contains some nutrients) highlights the point that trying to label certain foods as junk is foolish. In this example, popsicles are generally much lower in calories than Snickers and would therefore be the better choice for controlling weight.
Guidelines are also regulating what children drink, and the biggest target recently is soda. In Alabama, elementary and middle school children are not allowed any soda, while those in high school are only allowed to have diet soda. Again, if tackling childhood obesity is the goal of these guidelines, then banning diet soda from the younger children's diets makes no sense because it has zero calories. Some schools are substituting water for high-calorie drinks and using smaller servings of more calorically-dense beverages.
This same tactic is being used with food options as well -- tomorrow many students in New Jersey will be served pizza made with low-fat ingredients. These are steps in the right direction, but of course children will be presented with more than one choice when they are not at school when it comes to items such as pizza and soda. Therefore, federal guidelines should also emphasize the importance of wise food choices and a regular exercise routine both on and off campus. These are the keys to encouraging kids to maintain a healthy weight, not a school where they have to munch on Snickers until they can get home and have that popsicle.
Krystal Wilson is a research intern at the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org, HealthFactsAndFears.com).
Also see: "Ban on 'Junk Food' Junk Science"
