Banning Soda in Schools Ineffective

[The Straight Story]

Banning Soda in Schools Ineffective

State bans on sugar-sweetened drinks in middle schools didn't have much impact on kids' overall consumption, researchers found.

Although the ban significantly cut down on student-reported access at school, about 85% of students reported having at least one soda or other sweet drink in the prior week whether they could get the beverages at school or not, Daniel R. Taber, PhD, MPH, of the University of Illinois at Chicago, and colleagues reported.

...

The Institute of Medicine and other organizations have urged a universal ban on selling or providing sweetened beverages at school, with the rationale that limiting access at school should reduce overall consumption because students spend a large portion of their day there.

But students who reported at least daily consumption actually slightly increased their intake when the drinks were banned at school, suggesting that they more than compensated with drinks purchased at convenience stores and other locations, the researchers pointed out.


http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/HealthPolicy/29495

[ParkieDem]

1. Is anyone surprised?

I'm not.

[gratuitous]

2. Take it one step at a time

Our unhealthy eating habits have accumulated over the last several decades, and aren't going to be solved overnight by one isolated measure. Sarah Palin and the Nitwit Brigade notwithstanding ("Let's make s'mores and make Michelle Obama mad!"), there is a role for government to play in public health education.

At this time, the government's involvement is heavily into subsidies for high fructose corn syrup, tobacco products and so forth, consumables that aren't in the public interest. There's no reason the government can't shift its emphasis to healthier habits. In addition to getting sugared drinks out of the school vending machines, reinforce the message with units in health class on good eating habits. A healthier population enhances national security, if that's a selling point for you. It also reduces health problems now and in the future, resulting in lower medical costs over a person's lifetime.

I'd greatly prefer the government doing this than firing off more missiles from drones, indiscriminately blowing up persons all over the globe.

[joeybee12]

3. I can't imagine any type of study done so recently after the policy went into effective

can be at all accurate...especially in gauging long-term effects...bogus study.

[redqueen]

4. +1

[Throd]

5. In high school we ignored the marijuana ban too.

Banning something people enjoy doesn't work