2005 Essay Contest Winners

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.

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