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Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Another School Nutrition Rant
No, not about the boys' new school. They have a good cafeteria, and their vending machines are filled with bottled water. Unlike the policy recommendations of the American Beverage Association.
According to this site, a 12-ounce can of regular soda contains 40 grams of added sugar, which provide about 160 calories but little else of nutritional value. Granted, that's a lot of sugar... and no real nutritional value. So, juice must be better, right? Well... according to this site, a 16 oz serving (which is what will come out of vending machines at your average school) will provide 56 grams of carbohydrates (that's sugar), 224 calories, and 200% of the RDA of Vitamin C (one of the easiest vitamins to get your daily dose of). So... they're going to offer kiddies beverages with more sugar and more calories, all for some Vitamin C?
No, I don't think that kids should be given access to unlimited (except for the amount of cash in their pockets) amounts of carbonated beverages (although it didn't seem to hurt me when I was growing up). A healthier option would be to replace the candy machines (which, I know, are no longer in schools either) with vending machines that have... wait for it... fresh fruit, and maybe a power bar or two. Bottled water instead of soda machines (kids don't drink enough water- the vast majority of Americans don't drink enough water). Leave juice for breakfast.
But... what do I know? I just ran the numbers...
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.So... being the concerned parent that I am, I did a little research (took 2.46 seconds on Google... more or less).
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.
According to this site, a 12-ounce can of regular soda contains 40 grams of added sugar, which provide about 160 calories but little else of nutritional value. Granted, that's a lot of sugar... and no real nutritional value. So, juice must be better, right? Well... according to this site, a 16 oz serving (which is what will come out of vending machines at your average school) will provide 56 grams of carbohydrates (that's sugar), 224 calories, and 200% of the RDA of Vitamin C (one of the easiest vitamins to get your daily dose of). So... they're going to offer kiddies beverages with more sugar and more calories, all for some Vitamin C?
No, I don't think that kids should be given access to unlimited (except for the amount of cash in their pockets) amounts of carbonated beverages (although it didn't seem to hurt me when I was growing up). A healthier option would be to replace the candy machines (which, I know, are no longer in schools either) with vending machines that have... wait for it... fresh fruit, and maybe a power bar or two. Bottled water instead of soda machines (kids don't drink enough water- the vast majority of Americans don't drink enough water). Leave juice for breakfast.
But... what do I know? I just ran the numbers...
