The agreement between soft drinks makers and Bill Clinton to stop sales of high-calorie aerated drinks in public schools has invited praises from some, but skepticism from others. While some feel the move will go a long way in curbing childhood obesity which is threatening the health scenario of the United States, some others point out to the sale of 'low calorie' sodas and sports drink that are still available to children. Most, however, have reluctantly applauded the beverage industry which has agreed to let go of part of its profit to do its bit to curb the menace.
“This one policy can add years and years and years to the lives of a very large number of young people,” former US President Bill Clinton had said while announcing the deal. The efforts came in wake of different studies that pointed fingers at colas companies as drivers of obesity.
A Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) study, called
Liquid Candy: How Soft Drinks Are Harming America's Youth was a landmark one that found how rising consumption of soft drinks was driving obesity in children. “Soda pop provides the average 12- to 19-year-old boy with about 15 teaspoons of refined sugars a day and the average girl with about 10 teaspoons a day,” the authors had said in their report. In addition to increasing body weight without providing nutrients, sodas also caused 'lower intake of numerous vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber', the report contended.
In this scenario, making sodas hard to find in school cafeterias and vending machines is a positive step. Of course, children can still get them outside, but given the time they spend in schools, the consumption is likely to go down. The options available might catch on too – unsweetened fruit juices, milk, water and diet colas. One concern, however, is sports drinks, which are nothing but sugar and salt water. According to nutritionist Margo Wootan the deal should have included these drinks as well. “They're still basically sugar water with added salt. A child after physical education class doesn't need a Gatorade,” she said.
Florida's Sarasota County educationist Carol Todd is appreciative of the step the American Beverage Association has taken. “The research is very clear: Healthy children perform better academically in school. I don't think we need to be the food police, but it is our role to model for our children the things we feel are important,” she said.
But Sarasota's food and nutrition director Beverly Girard feels parents need to take this further by restricting their kids' intake of calories in other spheres of life too. “Doing the right thing goes far beyond what is being done in schools, but also what is being allowed at home, during recreation, at the mall,” she said.
Now, anti-obesity activists are likely to direct their attentions towards snacks that are served in schools, an issue that might help shape school-going children's eating habits. Julie Marie, director of Lincoln High School in Wisconsin, agrees with this approach. “We are an educational facility. And we should provide good choices to our kids. And model what we want them to do,” she said.
Meanwhile, in a bid to introduce soft drinks that deviate from the sugar and water recipe, Coca Cola has developed mixed soda drinks in collaboration with the Culinary Institute of America. Among these new beverages are Fresca Pomegranate and Odwalla PomaGrand, which contain pomegranate juice, Coca-Cola Hot Tamale that contains Worcestershire and other sauces, black pepper and fresh lime, and Pibb Very Cherry that contains pineapple juice with cherry syrup.
