American schools are cutting back on sugary, fatty, unhealthy foods, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.
The survey — which Will Dunham of Reuters and Kevin Sack of the New York Times covered — found changes in school health policies from 2000 to 2006 that:
- 19% of schools served French fries in 2006, down from the 40% in 2000. This means 25,000 schools nationwide are no longer selling the fast-food fare.
- 30% of schools kicked junk food from vending machines, up from just 4% in 2000.
- 46% of schools now sell bottled water, up from 30% in 2000. (Curiously, though, 100% of schools aren’t selling H20. Why not?).
However, schools certainly could be doing better:
- 12% percent of elementary schools, 19% of middle schools, and 24% of high schools still offer fast food from the likes of Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.
- 75% of high schools still sell soda, and 61% still offer potato chips or other processed snacks to high schoolers.
- Only 4% of elementary schools, 8% of middle schools and 2% of high schools follow the CDC’s recommendation to provide daily gym class. And 20% of schools don’t require any physical education at all.
Although progress has certainly been made, it’s still disappointing that less-nutritious food still finds its way into schools.
But at least schools are starting to do take steps to improve food in the schools.
Jennifer Moore of the SUGAR SHOCK! Blog contributed to this post.