Patricia Lynn is the campaigns director for Corporate Accountablity International—formerly Infact—a membership organization that protects people by waging and winning campaigns that challenge irresponsible and dangerous corporate actions around the world.
There are now more than 40 states where more than 20 percent of residents are considered obese. Twenty years ago, there was not a single state in this category.
In recent weeks, children across America returned to school. They were greeted by old friends and new teachers. And many of them headed straight for what has become a disturbingly familiar fixture of school life: soda and junk food machines.
By now, the stats that characterize the Supersize-Me Generation have also become familiar: Rates of obesity have doubled in the last 25 years among children. Students as young as 10 and 11, burdened with what was once known as “adult-onset” diabetes from obesity, are forced to take medication and check their blood sugar—a trend that was unheard of a decade ago.
To address the growing childhood obesity epidemic, 38 states have considered new nutrition standards for schools. Unfortunately, only 15 states have enacted these standards, according to the most recent reports available.
The push to improve nutrition at schools has the junk food industry fighting back hard. Last year, the junk food industry lobby—the Grocery Manufacturers Association—reportedly spent almost $2 million on federal lobbying alone, greasing the palms of politicians with generous contributions to ensure that health policies tip in their favor. Unfortunately, it is safe to assume that this level of influence won’t just go away.
Junk food in schools can’t be entirely blamed for these problems. Sadly, when kids come home, they are bombarded on television with junk food ads. From 1992 to 2002, corporations increased overall advertising to children from $6.9 billion to $15 billion. Shouldn’t our schools be one area of sanctuary away from the onslaught of incessant product peddling?
The easy availability of junk food in schools is an important contributor to childhood obesity, considering that kids spend most of their day there. Americans understand this. According to a recent study, 90 percent of respondents opposed junk food marketing in schools.
GMA members Coca-Cola and Kraft recently struck a five-year, $12 million deal with the Boys and Girls Club of America to help fund a national after-school program that was developed in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services. These types of deals not only foster goodwill with federal regulators, but also open another door: Marketing becomes as easy as giving candy to a baby.
Not surprisingly, the junk food industry has also influenced how states and local politicians have drawn nutrition guidelines for schools. The Center for Informed Consumer Choices has documented this aggressive corporate lobbying. The industry used its influence to water down or gut nutrition guidelines in Kentucky and Oregon schools. In June, Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell stopped a bill that would have limited junk food and soda in Connecticut schools.
Cash-strapped school districts are understandably seduced by the extra income from vending machines in school buildings. But paying for school physical education programs with money from the sales of high-sugar or high-salt snack foods is like paying for ventilator machines with tobacco sales.
It is time to draw the line—and tip the scales toward protecting our children’s health over fattening corporate profit margins. People are rightly paying attention now to this problem, and the GMA and its junk food members need to step aside and let these healthy policies progress. If they don’t, we risk having more and more children taking blood sugar tests daily along with their math and science tests.
