Improving Beverages & Snacks In School Vending Machines

SB 1425 proposes to replace unhealthy beverages and snacks with healthy ones.

It would limit the sale and availability of unhealthy drinks, i.e., non-diet soft drinks, fruit “drinks” and “ades” (Fruitopia, Snapple, etc.), sports drinks and other sugary drinks (punches, iced teas).

Examples of healthy drinks allowed:

	Water (Dasani, Aquafina) or seltzer
	100% fruit juice
	Fruit-based juice drinks (50% or more real juice with no added sweeteners)
	Low-fat or fat-free milk, including chocolate milk and other favored milk
	Swerve (a new, flavored milk-based drink from Coca-Cola)

The most common items for sale in vending machines, school stores and snack bars include soft drinks, sports drinks, fruit drinks that are not 100% juice, salty snacks, candy and baked goods that are not low in fat.¹

	Between 1989 and 1996, kids’ calorie intake increased by about 80-230 extra calories per day depending on the child’s age/activity level.2, 3 The increases in calorie intake are driven by increased intakes of foods and beverages high in added sugars.
	Between 1989 and 1996, soft drink consumption by kids grew 40%, from an average of 1.0 to 1.4 servings per day.4 A vast majority – 56-85% – of kids drink soda each day (depending on age).5, 6
	Kids who drink soft drinks consume more calories (about 55 to 190 per day) than kids who do not drink soft drinks.7, 8 A study by the Harvard School of Public Health found that for each additional can or glass of soda or juice drink a child consumes per day, his/her chance of becoming overweight grows by 60%.9
	Consumption of soft drinks can displace low-fat milk and 100% juice from children’s diets.10 Only 30% of kids consume the recommended servings of milk each day, down from 40% in 1989.
	20 years ago, boys consumed twice as much milk as soft drinks and girls consumed 50% more milk than soft drinks. Today kids consume twice as much soft drinks as milk.11

Unhealthy beverages are major sources of empty calories that jeopardize child health and academic performance in several ways:

	Consuming too many calories, thus gaining excess weight (which puts kids at risk for Type 2 diabetes and a host of chronic diseases).
	Soft drinks displace healthy beverages such as milk; kids aren’t getting enough calcium and the rate of broken bones among teens is soaring. Orthopedic problems result from excess weight and weak bones.
	Children and adolescents who are obese miss about four school days a month. Frequent absenteeism may lead to lower performance in school.12
	It is unrealistic to expect that physical activity alone can burn the empty calories kids are consuming today.

It takes a child about 1 hour 15 minutes (75 min.) to burn the calories in one 20-oz. soft drink.

FOOTNOTES:

1 Wechsler H, et al. “Food Service and Foods and Beverages Available at School: Results from the School Health Policies and Programs Study 2000.” Journal of School

Health 2001, vol. 71, pp. 313-324.

2 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Analysis, Nutrition, and Evaluation. Changes in Children’s Diets: 1989-1991 to 1994-1996. Washington, DC: USDA, January 2001.

Report No. CN-01-CD1.

3 Institute of Medicine, National Academies. Dietary Reference Intakes: Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids.

Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2002.

4 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Analysis, Nutrition, and Evaluation. Changes in Children’s Diets: 1989-1991 to 1994-1996. Washington, DC: USDA, January 2001.

Report No. CN-01-CD1.

5 Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Final report submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Children’s Diets in the Mid-1990s. Dietary Intake and Its Relationship

with School Meal Participation. Princeton, NJ: Mathematica, 2001.

6 Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Final report submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Changes in Children’s Diets: 1989-1991 to 1994-1996. Princeton, NJ:

Mathematica, 2001.

7 Harnack L, et al. “Soft Drink Consumption among U.S. Children and Adolescents: Nutritional Consequences.” Journal of the American Dietetic Association 1999, vol. 99,

pp. 436-441.

8 Guenther PM. “Beverages in the Diets of American Teenagers.” Journal of the American Dietetic Association 1986, vol. 86, pp. 493-499.

9 Ludwig DS, et al. “Relation between Cunsumption of Sugar-Sweetened Drinks and Childhood Obesity: A Prospective, Observational Analysis.” Lancet 2001, vol. 357,

pp. 505-508.

10 Ballew C, et al. “Beverage Choices Affect Adequacy of Children’s Nutrient Intakes.” Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 2000, vol. 154, pp. 1148-1152;

Bowman SA. “Diets of Individuals Based on Energy Intakes from Added Sugars.” Family Economics and Nutrition Review 1999, vol. 12, pp. 31-38; Guenther PM.

“Beverages in the Diets of American Teenagers.” Journal of the American Dietetic Association 1986, vol. 86, pp. 493-499; Lewis CJ, et al. “Nutrient Intakes and Body

Weights of Persons Consuming High and Moderate Levels of Added Sugars.” Journal of the American Dietetic Association 1992, vol. 92, pp. 708-713; Harnack L, et al.

“Soft Drink Consumption among U.S. Children and Adolescents: Nutritional Consequences.” Journal of the American Dietetic Association 1999, vol. 99, pp. 436-441.

11 Jacobson M. Liquid Candy: How Soft Drinks are Harming Americans’ Health. Washington, DC: Center for Science in the Public Interest, 1998.

12 Schwimmer J, Burwinkle T, Varni J. “Health-Related Quality of Life of Severly Obese Children and Adolescents.” Journal of the American Medical Association 2003,

vol. 289, pp. 1813-1819.