Doughnuts, carbonated beverages and candy will not be offered to some children next school year
Parents will begin staggering through local stores in the next couple months in search of those ever elusive school supplies. But when they begin that trek through the store, they need to make sure to avoid the junk food aisle.
The St. Charles Parish School System is getting their students into shape with the formation of a new wellness policy. No longer will students be able to fill up on doughnuts, beignets, carbonated beverages or hard candy, but instead they will have to make do with more nutritionally-friendly products.
As part of the WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, Congress mandated the establishment of a local wellness policy by 2006-07. The school then created a local wellness committee that met three times to prepare recommendations. Those recommendations will go into effect next school year.
The wellness policy was formed because of a growing obesity epidemic that has swept the country, especially Louisiana. In 1990, 10 to 14 percent of the adults living in the state were considered obese, which is computed by taking the number of adults that are more than 30 pounds overweight. In 2000, more than 20 percent of the state’s adults were obese, and in 2005, that number jumped another 10 percent.
Though adults have consistently gotten larger during that time span, the children are also gaining weight. In fact, there was a 38 percent increase in children and young adults hospitalized with diabetes from 1993 to 2004.
That staggering statistic forced the district to put in place strict guidelines when it comes to what children and young adults are eating at school.
“Evidence shows that children who are overweight have a 70 percent chance of becoming obese as adults,” Cynthia Ruffin, the district’s director of child nutrition, said. “That leads to a lot of health related risks, so we are trying to educate the total child – both brain and body.”
Any student from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade will only be able offered certain beverages at school. These are 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice with no added natural or artificial sweeteners, unsweetened flavored or unflavored water, lowfat and skim milk, and lowfat non-dairy milk. 50 percent of those beverages will have to be offered to high school students as well.
No students will be able to drink from containers that exceed 16 fluid ounces, unless they are drinking milk or water. Sports drinks will also be limited to areas where organized activity is taking place.
As far as food is concerned, students between pre-K and eighth grade will only be offered or sold food that is 150 calories or less. That food must also contain 35 percent or less calories from fat, 10 percent or less calories from saturated fat and less than 30 grams of sugar.
Just like with the beverages, 50 percent of the foods offered or sold to students in high school must meet this criteria.
There are also several foods and beverages that will not be sold to students between pre-K and eighth grade. These include doughnuts, Danish, beignets and other fried breads. Carbonated beverages, hard candies, cotton candy, candy coated popcorn and chewing gum are also not allowed. Parents are asked not to send “unallowable food” to school for consumption during the day and are encouraged to limit the frequency of high sugar, high fat foods such as cakes, cookies and cupcakes that are provided in bag/box lunches.
This strict criteria doesn’t just apply to actual school food, but also to vending machines and concessions.
All meals prepared in the school cafeteria must meet current USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans and USDA’s regulation for school meals. Carbonated beverages are not allowed in the cafeteria by anyone, including students, staff and visitors during meal times.
Ruffin knows that some people might be upset by these new guidelines, but that the majority of the people will understand what the school district is trying to do.
“You are never going to please everyone, but I think a lot of people will understand that this is in the student’s best interest,” she said.
Be the first to comment