Post subject: Bottlers Want To Limit School Soft Drinks

so i was reading through some daily news, and found this interesting article on cnn

OLYMPIA, Washington (AP) -- The American Beverage Association is recommending limiting the availability of soft drinks in schools across the country, a move that comes amid increased pressure to curb the epidemic of childhood obesity.


ABA President and CEO Susan Neely said parents should have the assurance that their children aren't drinking an excessive amount of sweetened drinks at school. The trade group represents companies that manufacture and distribute non-alcoholic beverages.

"Childhood obesity is a real problem," Neely told The Associated Press. "The individual companies have been doing several things to be part of the solution and there was an agreement among all of our leadership that we needed to take another step and take it as an industry."

She was scheduled to formally announce the organization's new policy recommendation Wednesday at the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures in Seattle.

The association's board voted unanimously Tuesday to work with school districts to ensure that vending machines stock only bottled water and 100 percent juice in elementary schools, although most of these schools are already soda-free.

The group is also suggesting that middle school students have access to additional drinks, like sports drinks, no-calorie soft drinks and low-calorie juice drinks. Middle schools could have additional machines with soft drinks and full-calorie juice drinks available for organizations that may hold meetings at the school, but the beverages couldn't be available during school hours.

High school students would have access to all types of drinks, including soda, but no more than 50 percent of the vending machine selections would be soft drinks.

The association's recommendation isn't binding, but Neely said the 20-member board represents 85 percent of the bottlers involved in school vending.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi said they supported the move.

"These guidelines mark a commitment by the industry to provide schools with beverages that offer variety, nutrition and fewer calories, and are very similar to the Coca-Cola System's current guidelines in the U.S.," said Don Knauss, President and COO, Coca-Cola North America.

Dawn Hudson, president and CEO of Pepsi-Cola North America, added in a statement that "parents tell us they'd like help in determining what products are sold in schools, and we're listening."

An estimated 9 million schoolchildren ages 6-19 nationwide are overweight, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since 1980, the number of overweight children has doubled, and the number of overweight adolescents has tripled, according to the CDC.

Individual school districts around the country have responded to the problem, with many starting to get rid of soda and candy in vending machines and replacing them with healthier items.

Several states have considered or enacted laws establishing nutrition standards in schools, including whether students should have access to vending machine soft drinks.

Of the 38 states that considered legislation this year dealing with school nutrition, 15 enacted legislation that addressed the issue in some way, said Amy Winterfeld, a health policy analyst with the state legislatures group.

North Carolina this year passed a measure similar to the beverage association's recommendation. That law extends the soda ban currently in place in elementary schools to machines in middle schools. No more than half of the beverages offered to students in high schools from vending machines can be sugared soft drinks. Bottled water also must be offered. Diet soft drinks still can be sold in middle schools.

According to the state legislatures conference, annual obesity-attributed medical expenses in the United States were estimated at $75 billion in 2003.



do you think this is right to do?

Post subject: Re: Bottlers Want To Limit School Soft Drinks

Post subject: Re: Bottlers Want To Limit School Soft Drinks

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well, you know, I think the soft drinks should stay (in moderation). However, they should have water as well. Let the students choose. When they get home, or as soon as they leave school, or even before they come to school, they probably drink as much soda as they can stand.

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Soft drinks aren't that unhealthy, IMO, and it's probably ok to drink soft drink once in a while. The thing is that we need to offset damages done already. More specifically, most Americans need to lose weight and a huge percent of Americans need to lose weight drastically. So, for example, you exercise to lose weight. You exercise and you sweat. You should not drink soft drink there, because it only gives calories, and thus, you will not lose weight. There is no point of exercising. Now, if you are exercising not for the purpose of weight loss, then it's ok, but the fact of the matter is that most Americans do need to lose weight. There are many more examples like this. This pretty much necessitates to eliminate soft drinks everywhere really ...

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I don't drink sodas as much as I used to. I drink a lot of water now, and it's so amazing that drinking all of that water, makes me not even want any soda. If I do drink a small amount of soda, I'll have a bottle of water next to me, and drink that as well. I can't drink straight soda alone like I used to.

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What about putting government health warnings on soft drinks and alcohol like there are on cigarettes?

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And a lot less parents stuffing their kids with the stuff too! Treating your kids can be detrimental to their health, unfortunately!

We need to go back to the days where kids drank loads of proper full cream milk (not this whitish water they sell nowadays).

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Soft drinks are terrible on so many aspect of your body! Think about what Coke does to a nail, or teeth left in it for 24 hrs. I believe in having a choice, but children are not educated anough to make this choice, they go with what makes them feel good. Schools should offer real nutrition classes and as far as funding.....I don't know.