The days when children consume two orders of French fries in the school cafeteria and call it lunch may be numbered.
A bipartisan group in Congress plans to introduce legislation on April 6th that would prohibit the sale in school not only of French fries but also of other fatty or sugary foods, including soft drinks.
Under the bill, an amendment to the National School Lunch Act, high nutritional standards would be required of all food sold on school premises.
That means not just in cafeterias but in vending machines, school stores and snack bars as well, even at fund-raising events.
The measure, which has strong bipartisan support in both houses, would do on a national level what many school districts have been trying to do for years: require that the schools set an example by providing only healthful food and so perhaps reduce the incidence of childhood obesity.
"We talk a lot about healthy nutrition, we teach the kids about the food pyramid, and then they go down the hallway and get the high fat, high sodium and high junk available in the vending machines," Ms.
People are beginning to connect the dots between rising health care costs and obesity."
The bill would apply to all foods other than the official school lunch, the meal for which schools receive government aid and which is already covered by other high-nutrition standards.
"My fear," Dr. Brownell said, "is that the food industry, with the soft drink industry taking the lead, will work its hardest to weaken or kill this act."
Read more from this post.
