Pop decision will affect Joplin schools

A decision announced this week by major soft drink distributors to remove non-diet soft drinks from public schools will affect Joplin students beginning this fall. The decision was arrived at following concerns that the availability of soft drinks was contributing to obesity and poor health in young people.
Room 210 Staff Writer Roni Leonard will have an article soon on student reaction. The need for the decision was expressed by seventh grader Savanah Sweeton in her SMS Essay Contest entry, which won her $10 for having the top entry in her grade. It is reprinted below:

The Problem of Obesity
By SAVANAH SWEETON
Forty-eight percent of all children and adolescents are obese. Thirty-two percent of Missouri students grades six through eighth are considered overweight or obese. Obesity is definitely a problem our society is facing right now, mostly common in children and adolescents. They spend most of their time in school, therefore, the school should be more conscious of what they serve and how they serve it.
Children eat and eat and eat and eat. That's how we live; that's how we grow up. And now, since we eat so much and are overweight it will carry on into our adult years making us even more obese unless it can be stopped now. Did you know that any additional food served at schools should be based on the five major food groups? I know most are not, at least not in my school.
Most vending machines supply candy, chips, and cakes, other than pop machines, mostly vending Cokes, and Pepsis. Most kids would reach for a soda, instead of milk or water. Well, unlike most kids, I usually reach for two percent white milk. So when the school took that two percent milk out I was furious. They said, "Too many people were getting obese, so we took it out." As far as I could see, most kids drink chocolate milk so that's what you should take out, and if two percent milk is fattening, then chocolate milk is twice as fattening. Chocolate milk is ultimately white milk with chocolate syrup and sugar added, and that's fat!
What we can also do is to take vending and soda machines and "trim" them up. Vending machines should serve less fattening, sugary things. If kids are going to get an extra snack, at least make it a healthy one. Soda machines should serve juices, water or diet drinks, and vending machines serve fruit, cereal bars or baked chips. These are better foods to be eating than salty, fatty chips or candy.
Another thing we can do is to make sure kids get outside for recess and take a gym class. Exercise is crucial to losing weight or staying trim. But what you eat also is important. So the cooks should watch what they serve and how they serve it. They should serve less foods like hamburgers and nachos and more foods like sandwiches and salads. They also need to give water and white milk the option of being served as a free drink with your meal instead of chocolate and strawberry milk and milkshakes.
So, in all, schools should watch what they serve and sell, and how they sell it. It is also important to make sure each child gets a physical education class as they need it, and later in life they will appreciate what you've done. You might just save someone's life by changing a few small things. But then again, it is the little things that make a big difference.
(Photo: Eighth grader Tiffani Gilbert buys a pop after school. Next year, pop will most likely not be available at South. Room 210 Photo by Ashton White)