An Indiana legislator is pushing a bill to require healthier choices in public school vending machines, but principals of area high schools say they already are moving in that direction.
Sen. Vaneta Becker's bill mandating a 50-50 split between nonhealthy snacks and those meeting a nutritional standard has cleared the Senate. It passed a House committee unanimously, and though amendments are possible, it looks likely to become law.
I think if we give kids healthier choices, they'll make better choices," said Becker, R-Evansville. "We have an alarming childhood obesity problem. It's not a cure-all, but I think it's one step in the process."
At North High School on Friday, students streamed toward the vending machines when the first lunch bell rang and snatched up several different healthy and nonhealthy items, from Cheetos to fruit chews to peanut butter crackers.
A couple of brands of candy bars were available, but students passed on them.
Becker's bill also requires an even breakdown between sodas and drinks that are healthier. As a compromise in her bill, sport drinks are considered to be in the healthy category.
At North, students still like soft drinks, but senior Cleo Walker, a member of the swim team, said, "I don't get sodas anymore, I just get water."
Senior Miles Seltzer said he gets a soft drink "every once in a while," but usually he goes for water, too.
Cracking down on unhealthy school vending machine content is a nationwide trend, but it is balanced against the fact that vending machines mean money for schools.
The Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corp. and other public school systems in the region have exclusive contracts with soft drink companies. At North, vending machine revenue pays for much-needed copy machines, according to Principal Brenda Weber.
School principals say they are finding ways to collect vending machine revenue while encouraging students to drink fewer sodas and eat fewer fatty snacks.
Soft drinks at North can be consumed during lunch and break times, but they aren't allowed in classrooms and hallways, Weber said. Some North teachers allow bottled water, which can be bought from vending machines, to be consumed in their classes. North and other schools have a vending machine consisting entirely of bottled water varieties.
Weber said she supports moves toward healthier snack alternatives in the machines, provided that students still have choices.
At South Spencer High School, the healthy versus nonhealthy breakdown is about even, Principal Bob Combs said. The school's vending machine revenue supports student prizes for good attendance, behavior and grades.
"We stress more moderation as opposed to not doing soft drinks at all," Combs said. "I don't think soft drinks are that bad in moderation ... If you drink one a day, do proper exercise and eat proper foods, it's not going to be a problem."
Nutritionist Janet Runnels with St. Mary's Medical Center Outreach Services agreed that if young people are getting the nutrients they need, an occasional soda or candy bar won't hurt them. But that is a big if, she said. Many young people ignore daily fruit and vegetable intake. Skipping or skimping on meals, Runnels said, increases the temptation to load up on unhealthy vending machine items.
"We try to fill up on things that aren't really satisfying," Runnels said. "We may skip breakfast, not get much lunch and we're starving before supper, so we fill up on junk. We're not meeting our food groups every day, and that's detrimental to everyone's health. Nutrients and food groups are there for a reason, to provide nutrients to feed our body and our muscles, keep us from getting sick."
Principals Linda Crick of North Posey High School and Robert Lance of Tecumseh Junior-Senior High School said the vending machines in their schools have moved toward an increased number of lower-calorie items in recent years, and the ratio between those items and nonhealthy ones is about half and half.
Under Becker's bill, healthy beverages would include milk, water, sports beverages, drinks without sugar and those with 50 percent fruit juice.
Healthy food include items with less than 30 percent of their calories from fat and less than 35 percent of their weight from sugars. They also would have to meet certain serving sizes.
So a bag of potato chips, which gets 90 of its 150 calories from fat, wouldn't qualify. Nor would a package of Frito peanut butter crackers (80 fat calories of 190 total).
Mini pretzels (zero fat calories of 160 total) would pass the test.
Becker's bill would ban vending machines altogether in elementary schools. It allows for the requirements to be phased in over two years, and schools with vending machine company contracts are exempt until a new contract is signed.
Becker said she is concerned about increases in obesity as well as type 2 childhood diabetes. "All of those types of health factors just follow kids into adulthood, where it gets worse ... We have to start with kids," she said.