|
1st Place: Steven Connel, Madill Public Schools/Grade
12
From the Lips Straight to the Hips
How many times have you offered your mother or a girlfriend a
piece of candy and heard, “no, thanks, through the lips straight
to the hips?”
There is a lot of truth to that statement for both males and females
of all ages, especially with the obesity epidemic in American schools.
The upswing in childhood obesity can likely be traced to the
introduction of “junk food” vending machines in the
school system. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)
completed a nationwide survey of vending machines in middle schools
and high schools. Their findings showed that 75 percent of drinks
and 85 percent of snacks were unhealthful. (1) Most of the beverages
were soft drinks or sugar-packed energy drinks with the snacks
listed as fried chips, fat-laden pastries and candy.
Reading the statistics and research show this as true, but it
becomes more apparent after talking to people who have had their
lives permanently impacted by the vending machine.
Julia Davis, 48 of Kingston (2) remembers when vending machines
were introduced at Kingston Schools, “The first one was a
milk machine where you could buy a half-pint carton of either whole
or chocolate milk for a nickel.” This was in 1962 or 1963
when she was in the first grade. Within five years, snack machines
containing all the ‘forbidden goodies’ were installed.
She had a small problem with weight until those machines came in – then
the problem grew. She used her fifteen-cent daily allowance to
buy chocolate bars and chips which were forbidden at home, and
when possible, she didn’t buy her lunch for a quarter in
the cafeteria. Instead, she headed for the junk box. When she got
to high school, soft drink machines were added and the money she
earned at her after-school job went to these machines between classes
and at lunch.
Davis underwent gastric bypass surgery three years ago and has
lost over 300 pounds. She admits it’s hard to pass by a vending
machine even now. She believes that schools should only provide
healthy, nutrition-packed snacks in vending machines and those
choices should be reinforced at both school and home.
Maury Peterson, 36 of Tulsa echoed Davis, “I was born fat
at 12 pounds but went to a normal weight by age six because Mother
and Dad were very careful about what my sister and I ate. I didn’t
have a potato chip or a cheeseburger until I went to first grade
in public schools. I remember our first meal was a cheeseburger
with a big helping of potato chips and a hunk of chocolate cake,
washed down with a large box of chocolate milk. You could get seconds
on anything if you cleaned your plate. I always did because we
were not allowed that kind of food at home. After gym, we could
buy snacks from the concession stand and I always spent my two
quarters on potato chips and soda instead of water, an apple and
a ham sandwich. My weight ballooned. I had gastric bypass surgery
a year ago and have lost 130 pounds, but I haven’t lost my
craving for the junk foods I discovered in elementary school. Although
my body doesn’t need them, my ‘head hunger’ for
them is overwhelming. My mother, bless her, was right. All those
potato chips did go from my lips straight to my hips.” (2)
A study by Indiana University indicated that schools could play
a big role in fighting childhood obesity by offering healthier
fare in school vending machines. Among their findings was the fact
that “vending machines and snack bars are stocked with foods
of minimal nutritional value that compete with the existing USDA-regulated
lunch program and are promoted through attractive financial offers
from outside sources.”
These attractive offers, ironically, offer schools luxuries such
as sports scoreboards, athletic equipment and uniforms in exchange
for exclusive rights to sell their products at the school campuses.
The study’s recommendation is that administrators should
negotiate with school vending machine contractors to include healthy
alternatives.(3)
The Austin (Texas) Independent School District administrators
vowed to take the lead in limiting student access to unhealthy
snacks and beverages as part of their “AISD Initiative to
Healthy Kids.” The school had a major beverage vendor restock
all machines with healthier drinks such as water, juice and milk.
Snack machines were restocked with trail mix, granola bars, baked
chips, pretzels and dried fruit. Though state regulations required
only elementary and middle school campus machines to be revamped,
Austin ISD extended the policy to high schools. The educators also
informed parent-teacher organizations and other school groups that
students were not allowed junk foods during the day or on field
trips. The only access students were allowed to “forbidden
foods”
at school was if the food brought from home was for their own personal
consumption. (4)
Sarah Oquendo, 19, of Tulsa was a student in Austin Schools when
the change was made, “At first, it was weird not being able
to get a Snickers and a Mountain Dew for lunch, but it became a
habit to buy a large salad with chicken in the cafeteria and then
get some juice and trail mix from the machines as a dessert. I
wish this had been done much sooner. I lost about 30 pounds as
a senior because I didn’t get my ‘sugar fix.’ With
help from my family, I’ve been retraining myself to eat more
healthy choices, such as a bottle of water and fruit instead of
my candy and Dew. Maybe if vending machines hadn’t been so
available and enticing in elementary and middle school, I would
not have this weight problem today.” (5)
Changing the offerings in vending machines is a good start to
making healthy choices but it needs to be backed up with nutritional
education to help students understand how all foods can fit into
a good plan, according to Stephanie Childs of the Grocery Manufactures
of America. (6)
Childhood obesity is a major problem in America’s public
schools. The nutrition learned as youngsters appears to remain
a life-long habit. While all “junk food” can’t
be eliminated from a child’s plate, consistent nutritional
education partnered with healthy choices in vending machines is
a good place to start battling this problem.
End Notes
(1) “School Vending Machines “Dispensing Junk.” Center
for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). May 11, 2004. www.cspinet.org/schoolfood.
(2) Davis, Julia Daphne; Kingston, OK. Interview Monday, March
7, 2005.
(3) Peterson, Maury; Tulsa, OK. Interviewed Wednesday, March 9,
2005.
(4) “Schools can play a big role in fighting childhood obesity.”
Indiana University Bloomington’s Center for Evaluation and
Education Policy. February 4, 2005.
(5) “Acceptable Use Policy.” Austin Independent School
District. January 12, 2005.
(6) Oquendo, Sarah; Tulsa, OK. Interviewed Wednesday, March 9,
2005.
(7) “School vending rated as junk.” Nancy Hellmich,
USDA TODAY. May 1, 2004.
Back to Top |
