http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002442903_soda17m.html

Trade group: Pull soda from elementary schools

By Rachel La Corte

The Associated Press

OLYMPIA - The American Beverage Association recommended yesterday
that soda and other sweetened beverages be pulled from vending machines
at elementary schools across the country, saying the industry needs to
help fight the increasing rate of childhood obesity.

ABA President and CEO Susan Neely was to announce the organization's
new policy recommendation today at the annual meeting of the National
Conference of State Legislatures in Seattle.

"Childhood obesity is a real problem," Neely said. "The individual
companies have been doing several things to be part of the solution and
there was an agreement among all of our leadership that we needed to
take another step and take it as an industry."

Neely argues soft drinks aren't inherently bad, and are fine for
physically active children who eat a balanced diet. But she wants
parents to have the assurance that their children aren't drinking an
excessive amount of sweetened drinks at school.

Several Washington school districts, including Seattle, Everett and
Stanwood-Camano, have banned sales of soft drinks and junk food. State
law requires all school districts to have reviewed their nutrition and
physical-fitness policies by Aug. 1.

The association's board voted unanimously yesterday to work with school
districts to ensure that vending machines stock only bottled water and
100 percent juice in elementary schools.

Under the group's recommendation, middle-school students would have
access to additional drinks, such as sports drinks, no-calorie soft
drinks and low-calorie juice drinks. Middle schools could have
additional machines with soft drinks and full-calorie juice drinks
available for organizations that may hold meetings at the school, but
the beverages couldn't be available during school hours.

High-school students would have access to all types of drinks,
including soda, but no more than 50 percent of the vending-machine
selections would be soft drinks.

The association's recommendation isn't binding, but Neely said the
20-member board represents 85 percent of the bottlers involved in
school vending.

An estimated 9 million schoolchildren ages 6-19 nationwide are
overweight, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.

Since 1980, the number of overweight children has doubled, and the
number of overweight adolescents has tripled, according to the CDC.

According to the state legislatures conference, annual
obesity-attributed medical expenses were estimated at $75 billion in
2003.

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The trade groups resisted this to the point where many states had to
start enacting laws to restrict them from schools, then they offer a
"voluntary" restriction. This is nothing more than a last ditch effort
to keep some of their products in the schools.

I say kick them the f**k out and hit them with a tax to purchase gym
equipment and pay for gym teachers. Then tax them some more so schools
can afford decent proper nutritious real-food meals for their students.

They caused and continue to cause the real problem, tax them to
implement a real solution.

TC