Do school soda bans curb obesity in kids? What Boston study shows

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(CBS) Has the time come for school districts across the nation to just say no to sugary drinks?

That's what some experts are saying in light of new research suggesting that Boston's controversial ban on sugar-sweetened beverages has succeeded in limiting kids' consumption of soft drinks and sports beverages - which have been identified as major contributors to the nation's epidemic of childhood obesity.

A study published in the CDC journal Preventing Chronic Disease shows that high-school students in the city averaged 1.38 servings of sugar-sweetened beverage per day in 2006. That was down from 1.71 servings a day in 2004, when the ban - which blocks schools from selling the beverages on campus - went into effect.

The reduced consumption of the high-calorie drinks translates into about 45 fewer calories a day. Previous studies have shown that the average teenager consumes about 300 calories a day from sugar-sweetened beverages.

"This study shows that a very simple policy change can have a big impact on student behavior," lead author Dr. Angie Cradock, a senior research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health, said in a written statement released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which funded the study. "It also shows that when students couldn't get these unhealthy beverages in school, they didn't necessarily buy them elsewhere."

The CDC has been a champion of limiting kids' access to sodas, pointing out that rates of childhood obesity have tripled in recent years as children's consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has been rising.

But bans on the sale of products that are both popular and perfectly legal? Isn't that an example of government policies of the sort that some have derided as "nanny state nonsense?"

If the Boston ban is an example of nanny state policies, "Let's hear a round of applause for the nanny state," Dr. Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University, told CBS News in an email. "Do I think soft drinks should be banned from schools? You bet. Nobody is stopping parents from giving their kids sodas at home, advisable as that might be."

What do you think? Should schools ban soda sales? Or do such bans infringe on individual rights?

[JLevinsonRD]

I am a registered dietitian who counsels children, teens, and adults who struggle with weight loss, and I can say that singling out any one food, beverage, or ingredient and making it completely off-limits is not the answer to the health problems children and teens face. Banning sugary drinks is not the answer - you may as well ban video games and the remote control for preventing exercise and leading to rising rates of obesity. Instead of banning certain foods, the most important thing we can do is teach our youth about nutrition and reinstate physical education into the school day. In my years of counseling clients and consulting with food and beverage companies, I have found that these changes will do more to help people learn how to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle than banning any particular food or beverage.

[gnimelf1968]

Our highschool has water vending machines, which is fine except that the bubblers (water fountains) don't work properly. I don't think that the kids should have to buy bottled water at a buck a crack. The bubblers should work. While we walked around the school to find his classes, I tried every bubbler, all of them just had a dribble. What about the kids that don't have a buck for water?

[dylan_89]

I have drank pop since i was a kid at school and still drink it regularly. I go through a twelve pack of Dr. Pepper in two days. I have never had a weight problem. If kids these days were not lazy and didn't sit around the house on computer and video games and have parents worth a darn maybe we wouldn't have so many overweight kids.

[d-gpaddock]

I applaud your superlative metabolism. The problem with personal freedoms is that consequences impact all of us. If addictions are covered by insurance, then YES we need limits enforced. If addictions are not covered, then no one is limiting one's personal freedom to do ill-advised behaviors, like not wearing seat belts/motorcycle helmets, or smoking, or substances, or general self-destructive choices. Scientific evidence is now connecting sweet tooth with alcohol addiction. There is consequence to convenience. It's expensive sending Orange Soda w/Junior to school. Think of those tooth sealants and how much they cost. Buy a $4.95 drink bottle and send water he can refill. Those Splenda lemonade packets are cheaper than Kool Aid. Think.

[gnimelf1968]

d-gpaddock, I know quite a few alcoholics and they definitely DO NOT have a sweet tooth. It's the exact opposite.

[jmailbox]

IF you gonna ban the sugary soda, ban the suger milk, apple juice, orange juice, gatorade, give the darn kids plain old water. LEt them have no life, no choices.

Personally though, they need to get kids off their fat butts and have them do chores around the house like cleaning, stop raising lazy lazy a** kids already. Let them take up gym class in school, have them on sports teams at the school too...

Parents need to get the kids to go out there and enjoy life, sucking all these extra calories and then doing nothing is setting them to get diabetes and eventually a heart attack

[barbaram99]

PS.there were pop machines in high school when I went..I could never buy one as I had no money to. Ye think pop makes people fat.I knew a kid with a wt problem. That was years ago.. Health issues. We did not have candy..Foster mother was disbeteic and the diet she fed us left us hunray. There was no pop,no candy, I could not put on wt till menopause. I eat very little.

[barbaram99]

i did not drink pop when I was a student. Some places have water that is nasty,,Boston is one..I had to drink it going thru the bus station years ago. It is time for the nanny state to be quiet. When it can be truthful to us citizens. When they lower the prices of healthy food that us poor can aford to buy fine..When the ones running for office stop raising tons of money to get into office and end their greed etc..Granted pop is bad for people yet it is not my place to say ye can't have it.When the govt will step up to the plate do the right thing..Years ago the lunches were better. Then again it was the 60s/70s..We had a better system.
out of fear parents and yes the dumb nanny state barred things that we did,We had recess..That is something they don't have do they..We did not have what the kids have today..Unheard of. If ye ban the pop they will still drink it..Why cos ye banned it..
Sports are good yet the things I read is appalling..I miss the olde days..If ye don't give the kid what he/she wants the said kid throws a fit.I have seen it. Mum does nothing.The runs her life. Years ago I got my seat spanked..I was not told why. That is the sighted world. Why not cut the salt in foods as well..Oh yes I hit the nail on the head.And yep..this blind person can hit a realnail on the head for real.

[illcountryboy]

The vending machines are there as part of a contract - no one can force the schools into a contract with any vendor for a product the school boards decides not to have in the district buildings.

[rf35]

If the school can ban guns and knives, cell phones and iPods, calculators and laptops, then they can ban soda sales. Note: they are just banning the sale of sugary soda (and presumably other soft drinks) on campus. The kids can still pack a Coke in their backpacks.

[magnumdr]

Nobody has to ban anything. Just get these kids off from the couch and get then into a sport, or at least make them do some work around the house.