In the nation s ongoing effort to fight obesity, school bake sales seem to be a particularly tempting target for officials seeking to appear to be addressing the problem. But they re mainly shooting themselves in the foot. Schools in some states, including California, New York, and Texas, are instituting regulations that limit bake sales to nutritious foods only. But some opponents of the restrictions argue that such fundraising events are on the whole beneficial to children, in that they garner thousands of dollars that often go to financing athletic activities, and even bolster physical education classes that might otherwise have been cut and that encourage kids to stay active.
But in some school districts, the thought is if they can get healthier food or no bake sales... perhaps they can lower that rate [of obesity], says Bloomberg Businessweek s Stephanie Armour on Morning Edition.
This is simply a political plank that will have no impact on obesity, says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross, while the blacklash will be mostly negative. These tactics are akin to spitting in the ocean as far as fighting the obesity epidemic is concerned.