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"When kids can buy all the soda and all
the junk food they want, whenever they want, even in school, the
fact that we're seeing more and more health problems among children
shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. That's why House Republican
Leader Tom Cross and I are proposing legislation that would ban soda
and junk food from all schools in Illinois. That means elementary
schools, middle schools and high schools. It means public schools,
private schools, Catholic schools and every other kind of school
children attend. It also means we stop sending mixed messages to our
children by teaching them about nutrition in the classroom and then
selling them soda and candy and all kinds of junk food only a few
feet away. This has got to stop," Blagojevich said.
"Nationally, 15 percent of children
ages 5-19 are overweight, triple that of 20 years ago," said Cross.
"The increased weight is causing increases in serious medical
conditions like type 2 diabetes and is setting the stage for
coronary heart disease, stroke or cancer."
A study in Arkansas showed that type 2
diabetes -- a condition once found almost exclusively in adults --
is up 800 percent among children in the past decade.
In addition, children nationwide are
consuming an average of 150 to 200 more calories per day than they
did just 10 years ago. In fact, according to a new study from a
nutrition organization called Project Lean, about a quarter of
everything adolescent children eat would qualify as junk food: foods
that are high in fat, high in sodium and high in sugar.
Illinois' school junk food ban is not
expected to be a burden for schools that have existing vending
contracts. Blagojevich pointed out that the major soft drink
companies also produce healthy beverages: Coca-Cola owns Minute Maid
and Dansani Water; Pepsi owns Gatorade, Fruitopia and Aquafina.
Some schools that have instituted junk
food bans are actually making money as a result. Schools in New York
are reaping significant profits -- $166 million -- under a contract
they signed with Snapple to provide vending machines that offer only
water and fruit juices. Los Angeles conducted three pilot programs
last year, each finding that school vending machines that offered
healthy alternatives were just as popular as those that offered
candy bars and soda. At one of the schools, Venice High School,
monthly beverage sales increased by $1,200 after healthy
alternatives replaced soft drinks in the vending machines. In
Illinois, north suburban Mundelein High School has not seen a drop
in sales since it banned soda and junk food at the beginning of this
school year.
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The comprehensive package unveiled by
Blagojevich and Cross Thursday includes a number of other
provisions, including:
--Modifying physical education
curriculums in schools to stress health, wellness and physical
activity. This will help
encourage a lifelong health-conscious lifestyle and help combat the
increasing trend toward inactivity and overeating at an earlier age.
--Creating the Juvenile Diabetes
Research and Nutritional Health Fund, to be
used for juvenile diabetes research, nutritional health programs,
education and public awareness campaigns, and a new nutritional
awareness hot line. Money deposited into this fund will come
from voluntary donations that can be made by individuals when they
apply for driver's licenses or state ID cards and from a voluntary
checkoff on Illinois income tax forms.
--Designating the months of January and
February as Children's Nutritional Awareness months to encourage
individuals to develop healthy eating habits and engage in more
physical activity.
--Introducing a resolution urging
Congress to strengthen and improve the Child Nutrition Program and
the National School Lunch Program in order to promote healthier
eating habits of school-aged children.
"These proposals target children and
adolescents in the hope of fostering early healthy relationships
with food, not only to prevent unhealthy weight gain, but also to
prevent other harmful eating disorders, such as anorexia or
bulimia," said Cross.
Cross filed the package Thursday and
will push for its prompt consideration when the Illinois General
Assembly returns to Springfield in January.
"Every study
shows that healthier students have higher attendance rates, better
behavior and superior test scores. Common sense shows that students
who eat healthier foods will do better in school. I'm hopeful our
colleagues in the Statehouse will support this legislation. I'm
confident that parents across the state will urge them to,"
Blagojevich concluded.
[News release from the
governor's office]
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