How schools are failing our kids; childhood cases of obesity and asthma have hit record levels. Meanwhile, public schools serve hamburgers and fries, eliminate gym classes, and use pesticides. Are schools setting our kids up for a lifetime of poor health? - Exclusive Report

Natural Health, July, 2002 by Katherine Gallia

Kids spend an average of 30 hours a week--more than 25 percent of their waking hours--at school. At home, parents take responsibility for their children's health. But who assumes this duty when they're in class?

In effect, nobody. The quality of the lunches our children eat, their opportunities for physical activity, and the health of their classrooms and playgrounds--no one government agency oversees them for our public school system. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) focuses mainly on classroom education. It advises on physical education, but actual policies vary greatly from state to state. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers the National School Lunch Program, but local school districts can choose whether or not to participate. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offers advice on indoor air quality to school officials, but the agency can't regulate or enforce its recommendations. It also regulates the use of pesticides that are used to maintain school buildings and grounds, but it has no specific rules for schools. The result is a subpar system that puts our children's health at risk. We examined the state of our schools, and what we found will shock you.

In the Cafeteria

Read the lunch menu at most public schools and you'll see such less-than-nutritious entrees as pepperoni pizza, hamburgers, and chicken nuggets. Some days vegetables like green beans or carrots show up, but you're just as likely to see whipped potatoes, tater tots, or french fries as the vegetable of the day. Outside the cafeteria, 98 percent of all high schools have vending machines, snack bars, or student stores where kids can purchase junk food and soda, as do 74 percent of middle schools and 43 percent of elementary schools, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.

Meanwhile our children face an epidemic of obesity. About 13 percent of children and adolescents are overweight--more than twice as many as in the early 1970s. Obesity is the leading cause of type 2 diabetes in children, reports the American Diabetes Association (ADA), and a 1999 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that kids of 15 are already showing signs of heart disease.

The reasons why our children can choose tater tots, candy, and soda for lunch are manifold. To start, only schools that receive monetary assistance from the USDA have to meet its nutrition standards (about 88 percent participate). And even schools that participate can use huge loopholes to circumvent rules. For example, schools must offer lunches that contain no more than 30 percent of calories from fat, but this requirement only applies to the official "school lunch." Foods purchased from a la carte menus are exempt, and about 60 percent of elementary schools and 84 percent of high schools offer a la carte foods. "It just doesn't make sense. It's a loophole in the law that needs to be closed," says Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C.

But when only 60 percent of students buy the official school lunch, cafeterias have to do something to bring in more money--and they often respond by offering more a la carte items, some of which are high in fat, sugar, or salt.

Cafeterias are also competing with on-campus snack bars, vending machines, and stores that sell candy and soda. You would think schools wouldn't be allowed to sell these items, but they are. They can't sell them in the cafeterias during lunch and breakfast periods, but they can during other hours. They can also sell these foods in other areas of campus--even right outside the cafeteria door--any time they want. And although schools can't sell soda in cafeterias during lunch, they can give it away, says Wootan. "[It's] a way to entice kids to eat in the school meals program," she explains.

Companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi offer schools hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in exchange for exclusive vending machine contracts. And financially pinched schools can't resist. "This is such an incredibly bad idea, because the school enters into a contract that puts them in the position of encouraging kids to drink more soda so that they can make more money. They often get bonuses if kids drink more," says Wootan.

What You Can Do: Parents can help change their children's desire for high-fat, high-sugar, high-salt foods, say experts. Serve healthy and delicious food at home, and teach your children about nutrition. Pack lunches if you're not satisfied with your school's offerings, and involve older kids in deciding what to pack.

Find out if your school sells candy and soda, and if so, protest to get rid of them. Get other parents involved.

In the Gym

Along with a healthy diet, kids need physical activity. Students in elementary school should get 150 minutes a week (30 minutes a day) of physical education (PE), and students in middle and high school should get 225 minutes a week (45 minutes a day), according to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), the American Heart Association, and CSPI. But that's only a recommendation; the government does not mandate that schools provide PE. It's up to the states and individual school districts to impose such rules. The result: In 1999, only 29 percent of students nationwide attended a daily physical education class, down from 4z percent just eight years earlier, according to a CDC report.