Snacks vie for students’ attention

Candy, soda, pizza and other snacks compete with nutritious meals in nine out of 10 schools, a federal survey has found.

Already plentiful in high schools, junk food has become more available in middle schools over the last five years, according to the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.

“Parents should know that our schools are now one of the largest sources of unhealthy food for their kids,” Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who asked for the study, said in an interview.

“Would anyone advocate that we take the fences off the playground for elementary schools and just let kids run around in the streets?” Harkin said. “By the same token, why would we allow schools to sort of poison our kids with junk food?”

In California, the Legislature recently approved measures to limit the fat and sugar content of food sold on campus and to prohibit the sale of sodas during school hours. The governor is expected to sign both measures this week.

Obesity among children and teenagers more than doubled in the last three decades, according to the government-chartered Institute of Medicine. Obese kids will become adults with chronic health problems, said Harkin, the senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee.

He and other lawmakers want the government to set nutrition standards for food throughout schools and not just in the cafeteria.

Giving kids healthier options “should not be a suggestion, it should be a requirement,” said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), another committee member. Kids are suffering from higher rates of diabetes, high blood pressure and other illnesses normally associated with adults, said Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez).

At issue are so-called competitive foods -- snacks such as candy, soda, pizza and popcorn available in a la carte lines in cafeterias, in vending machines and in school stores.

Schools raise substantial dollars from selling competitive foods; 30% of high schools raised more than $125,000 annually.

Advocacy groups point to a government study of 17 schools and districts that improved the nutritional value of their foods. Revenue increased in 12 schools and did not change in four, the study by the Agriculture Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

“Schools can make money without selling junk food,” said Margo G. Wootan, director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

The GAO sampled schools that participate in the Agriculture Department’s federal school lunch program, which subsidizes school meals and regulates their nutritional content. Those meals have to follow the government’s dietary guidelines, which call for more fruits, vegetables and whole grains and less calories, fat, added sugars and sodium.

The GAO reported that of 656 schools in its sample, 51% of principals and school food directors responded to a Web-based survey. Investigators also traveled to six school districts that have tried to substitute healthier for less-nutritious foods. The survey’s margin of error was plus or minus 15 percentage points.

The GAO report, released Wednesday, found:

* Nine in 10 schools sell competitive foods from vending machines, cafeteria a la carte (snack) lines and school stores.

* Vending machines were in almost all high schools and middle schools but in less than half of elementary schools.

* In one-third of schools, sweet baked goods, salty snacks and other less-nutritious foods were available in cafeteria snack lines.

* Schools often sold competitive foods at lunchtime, allowing kids to buy them for lunch or to supplement their lunches.

* Three-fourths of high schools have exclusive soft drink contracts. Sixty-five percent of middle schools have exclusive beverage contracts, up from 26% five years ago.