|
"Ask any parent if they want their child drinking soda and eating
candy at school -- and they'll say no," Blagojevich said. "Good
nutrition isn't candy, soda, pizza and chips. This was a long, hard
fight. We met plenty of resistance along the way, but ultimately
members of the administrative rules committee did the right thing by
joining us and voting to take junk food out of our schools."
The State Board of Education has the authority under the National
School Lunch Program to prohibit elementary and middle schools
throughout Illinois that participate in the program from selling
junk food and soda during the school day. Arizona, Georgia,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey,
New York and West Virginia already restrict elementary schools from
selling junk food to students until at least after lunch. And other
states have gone even further. Hawaii bans junk food in all schools
all day. Florida bans the sale of junk food in elementary schools
all day and in secondary schools until after lunch.
Existing Illinois State Board of Education rules already prohibit
the sale of junk food in elementary schools during breakfast and
lunch, but if students snack too much between mealtimes, they may
not have appetites for healthy foods at lunch. Tuesday's action
changes the rules to prohibit junk food during the entire school day
in elementary and middle schools.
The new rules, approved by the State Board of Education in March
before being submitted to the Joint Committee on Administrative
Rules, were supported by the following members of the rules
committee: state Sens. James F. Clayborne Jr., D-Belleville; M.
Maggie Crotty, D-Oak Forest; and Ira I. Silverstein, D-Chicago; and
state Reps. Brent Hassert, R-Romeoville; Thomas Holbrook,
D-Belleville; Larry McKeon, D-Chicago; David E. Miller, D-Dolton;
and Rosemary Mulligan, R-Des Plaines.
In addition to prohibiting junk food throughout the school day,
the new rules, which take effect immediately, will also change the
definition of junk food to focus on what's most important -- the
food's nutritional content.
[to top of second column]
 |
"The health of our children and providing them every opportunity
to succeed is of the utmost importance to us," said Jesse Ruiz,
chairman of the State Board of Education. "We are pleased to see the
new junk food rules moving forward because we know that a healthy
diet contributes to the learning readiness and well-being of the
children of Illinois."
"We are pleased to see that the rules have passed," said Mark
Peysakhovich, senior director of advocacy for the American Heart
Association, Greater Midwest Affiliate. "The American Heart
Association applauds Governor Blagojevich's leadership on this
important issue. This is an excellent first step in improving school
nutrition in Illinois. Although this is a substantial success for
the governor and his team, the real winners will be the kids who get
to live longer and healthier lives."
A recent study found that 61 percent of Illinois residents and
nearly one in four Illinois adults are obese, which is up from one
year ago and part of an alarming national trend. Obesity climbed in
30 other states and fell in only one, Nevada. The results were
compiled by the nonprofit Trust for America's Health, which used
data from a federal telephone survey that asked adults their height
and weight. Recently released government research also found that 60
percent of children who are overweight at any time during their
preschool years are also overweight at age 12, which reinforces the
importance of early prevention.
According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the
average child drinks twice as much soda as milk. A study from
Project Lean found that one-fourth of everything adolescents eat is
considered junk food. And, children nationwide are consuming on
average 150 to 200 more calories per day than they did just 10 years
ago. In addition, 15 percent of all children ages 5 to 19 are
overweight, triple the percentage 20 years ago.
While setting the stage for coronary heart disease, stroke and
cancer, the growing epidemic is causing significant increases in
serious medical conditions like type 2 diabetes. A study in Arkansas
showed that, in a comparison with the past decade, type 2 diabetes
-- a condition once found almost exclusively in adults -- is up 800
percent among children.
[News release from the governor's
office] |
