A bipartisan group of legislators has introduced a bill that would require the Agriculture Department to set new nutritional standards for all food sold in schools, with the goal of restricting junk food sales. Current regulations apply to cafeteria breakfasts and lunches, but not vending-machine or school-store snacks.
I’m all for this—but wonder if restrictions without simultaneous education about healthy food choices and physical activity will simply seem repressive. Will it cause children in their perverse way to find other means of getting junk food (leaving the school to buy chips and a Coke at the convenience store across the street, for example)? Restricting junk food in schools is a good idea, but I hope it’s part of a broader initiative. With schools cutting back on science and history in order to focus on the core “No Child Left Behind” skills of reading and math, I have to be skeptical.
At the same time, good eating habits start way before school age. As with so many things, it’s largely up to parents to set and maintain good examples—and then to hope some of it sticks.