don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

I don't understand this. I already outlined the proper way (from a wellness perspective) to deal with soda pop in the schools, namely get rid of it! (See Sugar Blues in the Schoolhouses of America.) Yet, for some reason, it's still a problem. Maybe the entire universe is not reading my daily essays! Perhaps I need to say more on this topic!

The bottom line is while economics and health are at odds in schools throughout America, and while the battleground is the cafeteria, the underlying but little appreciated problem is the quality of education children receive. That is, Coke and Pepsi (and other, less influential soda pop options in the category "sugar water") contribute to childhood obesity when kids consume these products to excess largely because they don't have the capacity to think critically about the choices they are making. Why Not? It's because the educational system has failed them.

School board officials and administrators, teachers and parents need to adopt a new perspective on selling Coke and Pepsi and such. Part of a sensible perspective, I believe, is to recognize the seriousness of a worsening situation regarding childhood obesity. Patriotic folks given to flag waving should be as dedicated to finding ways to combat this problem as they are vigilant in looking for terrorists. America is weighed down by a seriously overweight citizenry! At least (by conservative estimates) 61 percent of adults are overweight; a quarter of these overweight folks are obese! Kids are on their way to adulthood and will be joining the ranks of the overweight unless reforms are instituted in the schools. One of the worst features of school menu options is high soda pop consumption, in combination with non-existent or inadequate exercise programming.

School administrators need to take the crisis of overweight children more seriously. The health costs alone are staggering -- at least 300,000 deaths annually are associated with overweight and obesity. This is nearly as high as the toll attributed to tobacco use -- 400,000 deaths annually. The Surgeon General's office placed the annual costs of the overweight American in excess of $117 billion in 2000 -- and that figure is surely higher now.

Overweight schoolchildren are a direct reflection of this unhealthy environment. The Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) "National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey" documented a steep increase in the number of overweight children and teens over a five-year period from 1994 to 1999. Not surprisingly, several studies identified Coke and Pepsi and the soda pop industry as major contributors to this problem. (See Lancet 2001; 357: 505-08.)

Some school administrators believe healthy choices (juice drinks, for example) in school cafeterias don't sell. However, others claim that when school officials promote healthy choices and market them as delicious, cool and probably the choice of teen role models, kids WILL go for good stuff. (Kids have innate intelligence but make really dumb decisions daily!) The jury is out amongst administrators, but nearly all agree that outright bans on soda pop and junk foods that kids want are not effective, as this gives such products an irresistible cache. What to do then?

Perhaps school administrators should focus on the curriculum, not the cafeteria! Think of it -- could we convince administrators to reassess the ethics of making money on Coke, Pepsi and other empty sugar drinks at the cost of child health? I think we could, for administrators need to respond to the growing health problem of over-fat kids.

The greater challenge is for administrators to do a better job of creating an education system that will nurture free-thinking children with a capacity to see through the perfidy of advertising by soda pop giants and other junk purveyors. Kids need to learn how to detect baloney -- and I refer to shoddy arguments, not lunchmeat. America desperately needs curricula reforms that will guide children to critically think their way through the allure of not just Coke, Pepsi and soda pop, but posturing politicians, mindless TV, destructive drugs and Twinkie diets during their school years and beyond. Without such reforms, we will continue to have not only fat kids but flabby democracy run by and for the special interests.

Be well and always look on the bright side of life.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the PHYSICAL DOMAIN under the skill area of nutrition. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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