Nurses, pediatricians support bill limiting school junk food sales
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nurses and pediatricians support legislation that would limit the sale of junk food and soft drinks at Tennessee schools, lawmakers were told Thursday.
Tennessee has the nation’s third-highest rate of obesity and one of the highest rates of Type 2 diabetes among schoolchildren, according to a coalition of bill supporters that includes the Tennessee Medical Association, Tennessee Nurses Association and Tennessee School Health Coalition. Type 2 diabetes is strongly linked to poor diet and being overweight.
“Prevention is key. That’s where this bill comes in,” Nashville pediatrician Kris Rehm told a joint meeting of the Legislature’s Education Oversight Committee and the Select Committee on Children and Youth.
The legislation sponsored by Sen. Larry Trail, D-Murfreesboro, and Rep. Joe Fowlkes, D-Cornersville, requires that food sold before and during class time at schools with kindergarten through 8th grade students be limited to grain products, fruit and fruit juices, vegetables and vegetable juices, water, dairy products, nuts and seeds, and sports drinks.
Candy bars, potato chips, soft drinks and the like could be sold only after the school day ends.
“We’re trying to keep kids healthy from the start,” Rehm said.
She said children buying high-sugar drinks from school vending machines are consuming excess calories, affecting bone development by avoiding milk and risking dental problems. According to the American Dietetic Association, children consuming soft drinks take in an average of 200 extra calories a day, which translates to a weight gain of about two pounds per month.
But bill opponents physical inactivity and a lack of health education are at least as much to blame as vending machine junk food.
Clare Sullivan, a Nashville nurse, didn’t disagree but said the ban on unhealthy vending sales was “a first step.”
Bill opponents also say such decisions should be made on the local level, claiming lawmakers would take away thousands of dollars in profits schools earn from vending machine sales.
“It is discriminatory and predatory and absolutely biased against the way we allow school systems to raise revenues,” said Rep. Brenda Turner, D-Chattanooga, who acknowledged she was trying to protect the local Coca-Cola bottler.
The coalition pointed to evidence that schools selling healthier snacks in vending machines can make as much or more money than from junk food. Sullivan said a recent study showed that children educated about nutritious alternatives typically chose those types of foods.
Raymond Thomasson, lobbyist for the Tennessee Soft Drink Association, said Coca-Cola and Pepsi sellers already have policies prohibiting the sale of carbonated soft drinks at K-5 schools and will provide water, fruit drinks and sports drinks for schools that want them.
However, he took issue with the idea that “soft drinks are drowning kids in a sea of caloric intake.” He said the average daily consumption on school grounds is only 3 ounces.
“Our problem with the bill is not the desired result. It’s how you get there and who you blame,” he said.
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On the Net:
Read Senate Bill 2743/House Bill 2783: http://www.legislature.state.tn.us
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