The prevalence of junk food in our schools has undoubtedly been fuelling the problem of rising obesity rates in children. Hopefully, however, a newly published report will finally put a stop to the ready availability of junk food in our schools.
Schools have long been considered to be a major contributor to the problem of rising obesity rates in children as there have been no regulations governing the food provided in school cafeterias or through the ubiquitous school snack bars or vending machines.
This may be about to change however following the publication of a report, compiled at the urging of Congress, entitled 'Nutrition Standards for Foods in Schools: Leading the Way to Healthier Youth'. The report was written by the Institute of Medicine and The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the past twenty years we have seen a very significant increase in the problem of overweight in our children with the prevalence of overweight more than doubling among 6 to 11 year olds, from 7% to nearly 19%, and rising from just 5% to over 17% for teenagers.
At the same time obesity rates in children are also rising alarmingly and it has been felt for many years that the ready availability of high calorie, low nutrition foods in schools, while not in itself causing the problem, is certainly a major contributory factor.
In 2006 a first step was taken on the road to improving the health of school children when local education agencies were required to develop wellness policies and, while this is still in its infancy and progress in developing such policies has been patchy, it is intended that the latest nutrition guidelines should be bolted onto these policies and, hopefully, speed the progress of their completion and implementation.
The report is based upon the division of food into two tiers. The first tier contains foods such as fruit, vegetables, whole grain foods and non-fat or low-fat dairy products. The second tier contains foods which are not covered in the first tier and which are considered to be acceptable in limited quantities. These foods include such things as baked potato chips and low-sodium wheat crackers.
Based upon these two tiers, the report details a lengthy and comprehensive list of standards which all schools will be required to comply with.
Only time will tell just how affective these new standards will prove to be but there can be little doubt that anything we can do to curb rising obesity rate in children warrants our full support.
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