School Soda Ban Called Good First Step

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Elementary schools will only sell water, and 8-ounce servings of certain juices with no added sweeteners and servings of fat-free and low-fat regular and flavored milks. Middle schools will adopt the elementary school standards, but will be able to offer 10-ounce drinks.

High schools will have guidelines similar to middle schools but will also sell no-calorie and low-calorie drinks, such as bottled water, diet and unsweetened teas, diet sodas, fitness water, flavored water, seltzers and light juices, and low-calorie and regular sports drinks.

However, Katz thinks diet sodas remain a problem.

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"Diet sodas may be free of calories and sugar but still provide an unsavory mix of chemicals and intense sweetness," he said. "Artificial sweeteners may propagate a sweet tooth, and there is no consistent evidence that they help with weight control."

Altshuler thinks sports drinks should not be available to students.

"Sports drinks are definitively a problem," she said. "Sports drinks certainly have a lot of sugar in them and have minimal nutritional value. They should be gotten out of the schools."

But Coca-Cola's Garza said sports drinks should be available to high school students. "We are trying to provide hydration beverages in packages that are conducive to the high school environment," she said.

John Sicher, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest, said the agreement would have virtually no impact on the $63 billion beverage industry's bottom line, The Associated Press reported.

"The sale of sugar-carbonated sodas in schools is a tiny, tiny part of their overall volume," Sicher said. "Financially, on the big companies, it will have virtually no impact."

Altshuler, while hailing the new agreement, said more needs to be done to promote better nutrition among America's schoolchildren.

"Even though soda will be available elsewhere, it is vital that it is removed from the school lunchroom," Altshuler said. "We have an obligation to remove items that are unhealthy. We need to use this issue to impress upon children not only that soda is not healthy, but open up the broader discussion on the need for responsible marketing and advertising. And not allow business deals to be created which will hurt our children --such as allowing beverage companies to purchase billboard space in gyms and on ball fields in exchange for helping to build those facilities," she added.

More information

To learn more about childhood obesity, visit the American Obesity Association (www.obesity.org ).

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