School vending options still not healthy

So, no more soda in schools, I hear.

As a proponent of healthy eating, I should be happy, I suppose. But I’m not.

Not so long ago, soda wasn’t sold in schools at all. When I was a kid, besides the little cartons of milk (whole or skim) and occasionally orange drink you could buy at lunch, the only beverage option offered was the hallway water fountain. About when I was in high school, there was some buzz about allowing a soda vending machine or two into the high school and maybe the middle school, but it never materialized before I graduated. Mostly because some parents worried loudly about the nutritional aspect, which was also why chocolate milk also was not an option in the lunchroom until I reached 8th grade.

There’s no doubt about it, soda is nasty, harmful stuff. It’s nutritionally deficient and full of sugar...disgusting amounts, in my opinion. Just measure out, teaspoon by teaspoon full the sugar contained in one can or bottle of soda. Be sure when you do it, you measure out the whole two servings as listed on the label on the back, by the way, since just about everyone drinks the whole thing, not evenly dividing it with a neighbor to share. Once you have the pile of sugar, consider how appetizing it would be to just consume the whole pile, which is what you’re doing every time you drink that can or bottle of soda. It’s asking for Type II diabetes by the can, if you consume enough of the stuff (and many people do).

But, as bad as all that sugar is, it’s probably still better than chemical sweeteners, especially for still-growing youngsters.
The switch to diet sodas only is what bothers me the most. I just don’t think pushing kids into consuming soda that is artificially sweetened, often with aspartame, is any better for them. This is particularly worrisome in a learning environment, since aspartame ingestion has been associated by some with memory and concentration impairment, as well as a slew of other health problems.

Over-consumption of sugar (as well as of just about everything else in this country) is a real problem that needs to be addressed, but what ever happened to the idea of teaching moderation?

How about limiting how many sodas a day a student can purchase? Or more severely limiting the times students can actually purchase them? Or requiring that sugar-sweetened soft drinks of all types come in size-to-calorie proportional containers in schools?

On a less punitive note, how about offering some competitive, yet healthy, alternatives? Lemonade, spritzer juices, iced tea, tea and juice drinks, more “exotic” juices and flavored and/or sparkling waters are just some of the excluded, but more healthful and tempting alternative possibilities here.

The “no soda” rule, prompted by new school “wellness” policies, falls far short of actually promoting healthy choices. It does a much better job of selling other drinks that the large soft-drink manufacturers already sell, likely to keep from upsetting the delicate balance of soft-drink sponsorship agreements with school districts, with the soft-drink industry guys getting the long end of the stick.

It’s the lack of allowance for deviation, with provisions for some of the products it would seem there is the largest profit margin on, that has me thinking the big-name soda companies had a large hand in the specific drafting of this.

The juice part of the plan is the best of the new rules. Unsweetened fruit juice is generally healthy stuff. But I have the feeling that if it comes canned, it’s going to have that “canned” flavor as well, and thus not be as popular as it could be. But I can also hope that I’m wrong.

The elimination of whole milk just mystifies me. The only thing I can guess is that because whole milk is more expensive, its elimination is an easy way to excuse having to provide it. After all, who ever heard of a child becoming overweight or obese because they couldn’t lay off the whole milk? Couldn’t growing bones and teeth use the extra vitamins and calcium that whole milk provides? If a kid is actually volunteering to drink plain milk over some other drink by sticking their coins in the vending machine slot, shouldn’t we afford them that opportunity? Isn’t whole milk the better choice over diet soda?

And, if sugar is the issue, why is low-fat chocolate milk okay, but there’s no leeway for a nice iced tea, which has a bit of sugar, but no fat?

Then there’s the Gatorade provision. Presumably to appease student athletes, Gatorade will be allowed for the upper grades. Granted, Gatorade does have some added electrolytes, but the amount of sugar, colorants and other additives leaves it being far from actually being healthy. Plain water with a spritz of lemon would be a healthier electrolyte replenishing option. But
Gatorade’s been penciled in the plan, even if iced tea seems to be out in the cold.

Bottled water, a good moneymaker for bottlers, has been deemed okay by the new wellness policies. Good to know that water is still considered healthy, particularly if you’re paying for it.

How far we’ve come in a few short years since that hallway water fountain became obsolete.

(Originally published in The Easton News, May 11, 2006)