This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Access to less healthy foods remains constant in elementary schools
Turner LR. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2012;166:164-169.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Many elementary schools in America continue to offer students sweeter and saltier food from competitive venues, whereas healthier foods are becoming less widely available, according to results of a national mail-back survey.
Researchers analyzed data from 2,647 public and 1,205 private elementary schools during the 2006-2007 and 2009-2010 school years. They found that public school students in the South had greater access to salty and sweet foods, plus more competitive campus food venues (vending machines, school stores, a la carte lines and snack bars). However, these students also had greater access to healthier foods such as fruits and vegetables, the researchers reported.
|
|
In an interview with Endocrine Today, researcher Lindsey R. Turner, PhD, said increased obesity awareness has not been enough to bring about change.
“Our next step will be to look more at the associations between schools and district-level policies,” Turner said. “Federal policy changes will also be under consideration and the USDA will be considering recommendations dealing with competitive foods.”
Competitive food venues were available to about half of all public and private elementary school students as of the 2009-2010 school year, the researchers said.
“Sales of food and beverage in competitive venues — particularly a la carte lines — can generate significant revenues to cover shortfalls in food service operating costs,” the researchers wrote.
Turner said she believes that greater access to competitive food venues in the South is “certainly alarming.”
“But given that obesity rates are higher in the South, the mechanism is perhaps understandable there,” she said. “And this suggests there’s a good opportunity to make changes and make a difference.”
Turner said school is only one part of the solution, and clinicians, working with parents to instill the best choices at home, are the foundation of good habits.
“But making sure they’re in a healthy environment at school is important because they spend the most time there,” she said. “The healthy environment at home needs to carry over to school.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
 |
Follow EndocrineToday.com on Twitter. |