Softdrinks elimimated from schools

[Fairweather]

The U.S. soft drinks industry says it has dramatically cut the number of high-calorie soft drinks sold in schools as part of a drive to tackle obesity. The American Beverage Association said shipments of full-calorie drinks to schools were down 95 percent.

 

Nearly one in three children and teenagers in the U.S. are overweight or obese, and health experts say sugary drinks are part of the problem. Several U.S. states and cities are considering taxing soft drinks.

 

Under voluntary guidelines in place since 2006, full-calorie soft drinks were removed from school canteens and vending machines. However, other drinks, including diet sodas, are being promoted in their place.

 

BBC News

 

 

The state of California and the city of Philadelphia have introduced legislation to tax soft drinks, while both the New York Governor David Paterson and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg are also pushing for such a tax.

 

"In these tough economic times, easy fixes to our problems are hard to come by," said Mr Bloomberg at the weekend. "But the soda tax is a fix that just makes sense, it would cut rising health costs."

 

Susan Neely of the American Beverage Association, which includes major firms like Coca Cola, PepsiCo and Dr Pepper Snapple Group, said such a tax would not solve "a complex problem like obesity".

 

... no it would not solve the problem but atleast its a step in the right direction in my opinion

[YoMamma]

The high school I attended never offered soft drinks in the first place. I remember drinking chocolate milk for lunch practically every day. This is indeed a step in the right direction for a healthier America, but unfortunately the largest step needs to be parents feeding their children healthier foods at home.

With the busy lifestyle that most Americans live, they would rather buy quick and easy junk food rather than cook a healthy homemade meal. Another problem is perception of price. The fast food industry has drilled into a lot of people's heads that it is cheaper to eat out at a fast food restaurant than it is to buy groceries and cook a meal at home. This is false of course, but much of low-income America seems to believe this farce.

[mohawk]

I highly recommend watching the documentary Food Inc.

 

In addition to looking at the meat industry, it spends a lot of time on Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (also an amazing read) which gives you a great look in to the corn subsidies responsible for the cheap fast food and booming soft drink industry.

[Jiffy]

I just watched Food Inc like a month ago.

 

very good watch.

[Fairweather]

I highly recommend watching the documentary Food Inc.

 

In addition to looking at the meat industry, it spends a lot of time on Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (also an amazing read) which gives you a great look in to the corn subsidies responsible for the cheap fast food and booming soft drink industry.

 

one of the best documentaries i've ever seen, just great

[Laz.e.rus]

I work in retail.

There have been MANY times that I have felt physically ill at watching what some people buy to feed their kids. So many times Ive jsut wanted to spout off something like :

" Soooo.... your a big fan of diabetes eh?"

"Or, careful.... keep feeding them that and they wont be around long enough to support you when your old"

or

"Your total is $138.97..... erm, did you plan on actually getting any FOOD with that?"

 

Seriously.....20 2 liters of pop, 6 boxes of choco-whatever poptarts, Doritos, some insta-stuff like Mac n cheese, 10 BOXES of stuff like Little Debbies or some snack-cake thing, some puddings, and some candy bars....Im thinking....your CHILDREN are gonna DIE LADY!!

Edited March 14, 2010 by Laz.e.rus

[samurai nightling]

The high school I attended never offered soft drinks in the first place. I remember drinking chocolate milk for lunch practically every day. This is indeed a step in the right direction for a healthier America, but unfortunately the largest step needs to be parents feeding their children healthier foods at home.

With the busy lifestyle that most Americans live, they would rather buy quick and easy junk food rather than cook a healthy homemade meal. Another problem is perception of price. The fast food industry has drilled into a lot of people's heads that it is cheaper to eat out at a fast food restaurant than it is to buy groceries and cook a meal at home. This is false of course, but much of low-income America seems to believe this farce.

 

Am i the only one who found it amusing that in another topic you spouted off about your studies on cows milk and the unhealthy effects it can have on people because we aren't "meant or built" to drink it. And then how all you drank was chocolate milk in high school and never white milk? Take a look at the nutrition facts on a chocolate milk container and you'll see that drinking that over soda wont help fight obesity any less. Sure you get some more nutritional value from it, but the amount of fat and calories is still just as high practically. And please dont take this the wrong way, im not tryin to offend anyone, i just literally read this right after i read the lactose intolerant thread and started laughing when i saw this comment. I totally agree that its more about the foods that parents give their children and not just what they drink. Food is the main source of calorie intake and parents need to step up to the plate and start helping their children eat better.

[YoMamma]

The high school I attended never offered soft drinks in the first place. I remember drinking chocolate milk for lunch practically every day. This is indeed a step in the right direction for a healthier America, but unfortunately the largest step needs to be parents feeding their children healthier foods at home.

With the busy lifestyle that most Americans live, they would rather buy quick and easy junk food rather than cook a healthy homemade meal. Another problem is perception of price. The fast food industry has drilled into a lot of people's heads that it is cheaper to eat out at a fast food restaurant than it is to buy groceries and cook a meal at home. This is false of course, but much of low-income America seems to believe this farce.

 

Am i the only one who found it amusing that in another topic you spouted off about your studies on cows milk and the unhealthy effects it can have on people because we aren't "meant or built" to drink it. And then how all you drank was chocolate milk in high school and never white milk?

 

That's because I did that study on the bad affects of milk in college.

In high school I did, in fact, drink chocolate milk almost every day. I hardly touch milk these days though.

Edited March 15, 2010 by YoMamma

[mookie]

Let them drink beer.

[Fairweather]

Let them drink beer.

 

ahahaha agreed!