Some Massachusetts legislators want the state to join California in regulating the nutritional value of the food available in public schools.
The Massachusetts State House of Representatives is currently considering House Bill 1457, which would increase nutrition standards across the state.
The bill would replace sodas in vending machines with low-fat milk, juice or water, and make fresh fruits and vegetables more readily available in school cafeterias. The bill also has a provision to monitor the food sold at bake sales.
Massachusetts is among many other states looking to tackle the nationwide obesity problem by focusing on school food. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed into law two similar public school bills: one will ban the sale of junk food by 2007 and the other will ban the sale of soda by 2009.
"We have a problem in Somerville, as well as in the state and the nation, with more and more children becoming overweight," Somerville School Committee member Roberta Bauer said.
Bauer, who represents Ward 3, asked the committee to endorse the bill under consideration by the state legislature. "In Somerville, the percentage of children overweight or at risk of being overweight is greater than in the state as a whole," she said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 24 percent of Massachusetts high school students are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight
. Tufts has been combating the problem in Somerville for the past three years through a program called "Shape Up Somerville: Eat Smart. Play Smart." The program was created in 2002 by Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy Professor Christina Economos.
The goal of the program is to promote healthy eating and exercise for community children enrolled in first through third grades. "Shape Up Somerville" is organizing a five kilometer run/walk on Sunday, Sept. 25 at Trum Field in Somerville.
The program also addresses how to make healthy food more appealing to school children, according to Friedman School Professor Parke Wilde. Researchers studied how much time and money it takes to educate food service workers in school cafeterias about preparing fresh fruits and vegetables.
"One of the things that the team here at the Friedman School did in Somerville was to give a lot of thought to the practical process," Wilde said.
"Shape Up Somerville" has already had an impact in the community. "Some of the Somerville schools have really embraced the idea of the kids to be more active," Cummings School Principal Thelma Davis said. "Teachers are also encouraging healthy eating."
The Cummings School is a magnet school for math, science, and the environment for kindergarten through eighth grade.
Davis said childhood obesity is a national problem, but she felt the proposed law may not be the best way to address the issue. "I'm not sure how I feel about the government getting involved in adding something else for the schools to have to deal with," she said.
She said she would not specifically endorse the proposed law, but she stressed the importance of schools in shaping children's diets. "We do see the kids a majority of the day, so it is a good place for them to be educated," Davis said.
Bauer said she is confident that "this proposal at the State House [is] another mechanism that would help us help our kids be healthier."
The Somerville School Committee has yet to endorse the State House bill. Some committee members have voiced concern that legislation would give the government unnecessary controls over what foods schools can and cannot have available.
"In an effort to help others pass it, I thought it would be helpful to have the Somerville committee endorse the measure," Bauer said.
