Posted: Monday, 08 March 2010 1:02PM
Group: School Drink Agreement Cuts Calories
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An initiative to get sugary drinks out of U.S. schools has begun to work, with diet beverages and smaller portions replacing some full-size, full-calorie varieties in school vending machines, organizers said on Monday.
The American Beverage Association said an agreement with the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation had cut shipments of full-calorie soft drinks to schools by 95 percent since 2004.
It added that "the shift toward more lower-calorie, smaller-portion beverages is also contributing to the overall reduction in calories available from beverages in schools."
The agreement, brokered in 2006 by the groups working together as the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, included The Coca-Cola Co, Dr Pepper Snapple Group and PepsiCo.
The guidelines allow 100 percent juice drinks, low-fat milk and bottled water in elementary and middle schools, and diet beverages and calorie-capped sports drinks, flavored waters and teas in high schools.
A progress report, prepared by Keybridge Research LLC, was unable to show if the changes meant children actually consumed fewer calories from the drinks available to them. But it suggested they bought fewer drinks.
"The current high school shipment levels mean that the average high school student purchased less than 8 ounces of beverage product per week at school in the first half of the 2009-10 school year," the report reads.
"Furthermore, the average high school student purchased just half an ounce of full-calorie carbonated soft drinks per week. This is down from more than 12 ounces per week in 2004," it adds.
The report echoes findings from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reported in October that a median of 63 percent of schools limited carbonated soft drinks in 2008, compared to 38 percent in 2006.
JUNK FOOD TAXES
Many health experts agree that full-calorie soft drinks are an important source of excess calories in the U.S. diet and likely helping to fuel the obesity epidemic. Two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese.
And while there is a debate about whether so-called junk food such as soft drinks are to blame, the American Beverage Association agreed to limit the availability of such drinks in U.S. schools.
"A critical component of the Alliance's national effort to end childhood obesity has been our work with the beverage industry to reduce the amount of calories our kids consume in schools," former president Bill Clinton said in a statement.
The report shows some success. "Bottler shipments to all schools (total ounces basis) have fallen by 72 percent," the report reads.
Keybridge Research president Dr. Robert Wescott said in a statement: "The reduction of calories in schools is real and meaningful. The data truly speaks for itself."
The U.S. Institute of Medicine says local governments should consider zoning laws to limit access to junk food near schools, and CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden supports taxes on soft drinks, as does the American Heart Association.
California and Philadelphia have both introduced legislation to tax soft drinks to try to limit consumption.
Story Copyright 2010, Reuters
Photo Copyright 2010, Getty Images
|
