Wednesday, April 04, 2007

SALEM -- Hoping to reverse the growing problem of childhood obesity, the Oregon House voted Tuesday to ban the sale of most junk food in public schools starting in fall 2008.

That means goodbye to candy bars, sugary colas, high-fat chips, oversized slices of pepperoni pizza and other high-calorie snacks.

That would be a big switch for most of the nearly 200 school districts across the state, and school officials are resisting that change.

But the restrictions would help to bring the foods offered by schools in line with what is being taught in schools about health and nutrition, said Rep. Tina Kotek, D-Portland. She said the standards are similar to those in 20 other states, including Washington and California.

"Ultimately, this is about getting a handle on childhood obesity in our state," Kotek said.

The House voted 46-11 to approve House Bill 2650. It now goes to the Senate, where it is expected to pass. Gov. Ted Kulongoski also supports the bill, spokeswoman Anna Richter Taylor said.

"This bill goes a long way toward preventing childhood obesity and diabetes and is part of a comprehensive effort to improve the health of our kids," she said.

HB2650 would limit what can be sold in vending machines and a la carte cafeteria lines. It would not affect what is sold in school lunch or breakfast menus, which are under federal nutrition guidelines as part of the free and reduced-price school meals program. It also would not regulate what students can bring to school to eat or drink.

The measure would set limits for the amount of fat, sugar or calories in food.

In elementary and middle schools, only water, milk or fruit or vegetable juice would be allowed, and even then the juice and milk would have limits on how many calories they could contain. In high schools, sugar-free sodas and performance drinks also would be permitted.

Kotek said smaller slices of pizza would be allowed but large slabs of pizza would not. And 100-calorie packs of crackers and other snacks could be sold as long as they meet the other requirements for fat and sugar content, she said.

Rep. Scott Bruun, R-West Linn, said there has been a tripling of the obesity rate in the past 20 years and an "explosion" of Type-2 diabetes in Oregon. He noted that on average, a person's life expectancy is shortened by 19 years if he has diabetes.

"We know there's a direct correlation between obesity and diabetes," said Bruun, who was diagnosed with diabetes 26 years ago.

All 30 of the House's Democrats who were present Tuesday voted for the bill, along with 16 Republicans. Eleven Republicans voted against it.

Some objected to the state setting the food limits for school districts. Rep. Kevin Cameron, R-Salem, noted the Salem-Keizer School District had put food standards in place on its own.

"I do have a problem with telling your school district that they need to do it," he said.

Rep. Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, responded that obesity is a public health issue and, as such, it was fair game for the Legislature to tackle.

Obesity is associated with health problems such as diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

A report on childhood obesity prepared by state health officials this year said nearly 1 in 6 children in the United States is overweight, three times as many as two decades ago.

The report made 20 recommendations on how to reduce childhood obesity, and getting junk food out of schools was one of them.

At an event in the Capitol held to highlight the report Tuesday, Dr. Bruce Goldberg, director of the state Department of Human Services, said obesity is one of the reasons today's children are not expected to live as long as their parents, on average.

"Our kids are looking at shorter life spans than us," Goldberg said. "That's a tragedy."