Junk food will be leaving Kansas schools, and not a minute too soon. In case you missed it, last week the Kansas Board of Education approved a proposal to remove vending machine items of little nutritional value (WIBW).
They made their move about the time Gopal K. Singh and others reported that Kansas has the dubious distinction of seeing its rate of obesity among girls more than double from 2003 to 2007 (Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine). The Kansas City Star’s Alan Bavley followed up on that report with a story Sunday in which the researcher denies there’s anything wrong with the data in his research.
Even if the surge is overstated, the problem is real, and eliminating ready access to alluring, but empty, calories is one place to start. The board made the right decision, and they can’t implement their new rule fast enough.
Good for Kansas schools, Janet. It would be so easy to make school food healthier just by getting rid of all the sugar, snack foods, starchy carbs.
Janet Majure // May 19, 2010 at 1:27 pm
That wouldn’t leave much, given some of the menus!
Mother Nature's Health Market // Apr 8, 2011 at 5:12 pm
I’m glad to see Kansas taking a step in the right direction when it comes to providing healthy food choices for their students!