Philadelphia Schools Ban Sale of POPS

[CrimsonTide4]

Philadelphia Schools Ban Sale of Sodas
Fri Jan 16, 9:03 AM ET Add Oddly Enough - Reuters to My Yahoo!



PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Philadelphia officials have banned the sale of sodas throughout the public school system, a move nutrition experts said on Thursday would help guard children against obesity.



The Philadelphia School District decided late on Wednesday to end the sale of carbonated sodas in vending machines and lunch rooms. Starting July 1, schools must sell fruit juice, water, milk and flavored milk drinks instead.


Philadelphia, with about 214,000 students, is the second major U.S. school district to adopt such a policy.


Last year New York City banned soda as well as candy and sweet snacks from vending machines in its system, the largest in the United States.


Some California school districts curb soda sales but their policies are not as strict as those in Philadelphia and New York, said Sandy Sherman, a nutrition educator at The Food Trust, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit group.


"There is not a good reason for soda to be sold in schools," said Sherman, whose group lobbied for the ban. "It contributes to obesity, type-2 diabetes and dental cavities, and displaces milk drinking."


The American Academy of Pediatrics this month urged all school districts to restrict soda sales to reduce the risk of obesity. Each 12-ounce serving of the average soda contains the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar.


More than 60 percent of Americans are overweight or obese. In 2000, 38.8 million Americans or 31 percent of the adult population were classified as obese, meaning their health was seriously at risk.


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They need to. Those hyper booty children don't need that for more than just obesity reasons.

[Jill1228]

I agree with this! They are discussing getting rid of soda machines in the schools here in Vancouver. Kids need to be drinking milk, juice and WATER! My stepson will drink soda after soda if you let him. I ain't having that!

I can't control what he has at his mom's house on the weekends but I can control what comes into MY house!

[blackerican]

I agree also. When I was in school (way back in 19??)...you couldn't find soda or a soda machine for that matter in the building. We had a choice of either milk, chocolate milk, fruit juice or punch, and good ole water!!!!! Now days these kids drink so much soda that you would think it's a food group!!!!! I say BRAVO!!!!

[delph998]

Smart move. At the school I work at, there is still a pop machine--I think we should eliminate pops all together.

[FeeFee]

Originally posted by blackerican
I agree also. When I was in school (way back in 19??)...you couldn't find soda or a soda machine for that matter in the building. We had a choice of either milk, chocolate milk, fruit juice or punch, and good ole water!!!!! Now days these kids drink so much soda that you would think it's a food group!!!!! I say BRAVO!!!!

HELLO!!! I'm like since when did schools started selling soda????

[Dionysus]

I only my HS sold soda. If I were still in high school I would be pissed if they took away my mt.dew and sprite.

[JinglesSpr99]

I am also happy that pop is not being sold in some schools. It needs to happen in more of them. It is too bad that some schools will not stop because of the major pay offs from the companies. For example my school was a coke school. So even if there was an event off of the schools grounds, we had to serve their products. In exchange we got new banners for the bball team in the gym. Or that really nice score table that lights up like the professional teams have.

[9dstpm]

They need to stop selling pops in the schools here in Saginaw. It's funny to me that the same children who don't have money to buy a needed novel for their English class will scrape up every dime they can find for the pop machine. I wonder if these kids would be so quick to go to the pop machine if they knew that the $$ from the pop machine sales went to athletics and not other school activities? I quit buying pops out of the machines and started bringing flavored water when I found that out. The school board here is cutting out field trips and not hiring new staff and not upgrading the computers in order to save money but is not willing to get rid of the pop machines and slash the athletic budget, either.

[bafromkc]

have you guys all lost your minds? soda in schools is not the problem. kids need to learn to eat in moderation and then the vending machines would not even be a problem.

but calling for and in some cases removing soda altogether is stupid considering all the other problems schools face these days.