In a move that could pit tight school finances against growing concerns about the eating habits of students, Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Thursday called for banning the sale of junk food and soft drinks in school vending machines.
Blagojevich joined with House Republican Leader Tom Cross of Oswego in pushing for state legislation to remove such products from all school vending machines by Jan. 1, 2005.
“When kids can buy all the soda and all the junk food they want, whenever they want, even in school, the fact that we’re seeing more and more health problems among children shouldn’t come as a surprise,” Blagojevich said.
Speaking in front of 700 children at Rhodes Elementary School in River Grove, the governor cited medical studies showing children are more overweight and more prone to diabetes than ever before.
“This has got to stop,” Blagojevich said.
His squirming audience, from pre-kindergarten to 8th grade, groaned when he mentioned the ban.
“That’s what teenagers live off of, junk food,” said Cassandra Butler, 16, a sophomore at nearby Proviso East High School in Maywood.
Such a proposal could also meet resistance from schools, which increasingly rely on the proceeds from lucrative contracts with soft-drink and vending-machine firms to help keep their bottom lines balanced, officials say.
Blagojevich’s proposed legislation also calls for modifying physical education curricula to emphasize health, wellness and physical activity. The measure would create a juvenile diabetes research fund, raising money from donations made by people who apply for driver’s licenses or state identification cards, or from income tax forms.
Cross filed the package Thursday and said he will push for its consideration in January when the General Assembly returns to Springfield.
Among the skeptics was Toni Fisher, director of food service at Evanston Township High School, who said that her cafeteria budget includes $150,000 generated from vending machine sales. But she said her concerns reach beyond financial issues.
“I don’t think it’s real world to deny something to children or adults,” said Fisher, who said her school’s machines also carry healthier yogurt choices, snack bars and baked chips.
“They’re exposed to it everywhere else, and they have to learn how to deal with it. We encourage eating a variety of foods from all the food groups. If we eat a variety of foods, one can of soda won’t do you in.”
At the other end is Mundelein High School in Lake County, which in August replaced the soda and candy with juices and cereal bars in vending machines, said School District 120 Supt. Stan Fields.
He praised the governor’s proposal, even though Mundelein’s vending machine sales have dipped by about 30 percent–or $5,000, compared with the same time last year.
“I’m supportive of that effort,” said Fields, whose school also is shifting physical education curriculum to focus on health. “The decision was not based on money. It was the right thing to do in terms of the health and fitness of the students as well as staff.”
At Rhodes School, Cross cited a study, which he said showed 15 percent of children ages 5 to 19 are overweight, triple of that two decades ago.
Officials also pointed to schools elsewhere in the nation that they said are finding success in fighting junk food.
In New York, schools are reaping $166 million from a contract signed with Snapple to provide vending machines that offer only water and fruit juices, officials said. Los Angeles found in three pilot programs last year that healthful alternatives were just as popular among students.
While the current proposal addresses vending machines, the legislators may next target cafeterias and small stores operating in the schools that offer soda and junk food, said Cross spokesman David Dring.
But some students didn’t see a junk food ban as solving the problem.
More Top Picks Homeschooling A Child With Dyslexia Where To Start
Proviso East High students greeted the proposal with wide-eyed disbelief and disdain. At the school, students said, they can buy sodas in vending machines and junk food such as candy and potato chips at the cafeteria and at a small stand inside the school.
“They shouldn’t really ban it. … Kids eat junk food,” said Eric Sanchez, 16, of Melrose Park.
At a Vernon Hills shopping mall, some teens were equally opposed.
“I think it’s an infringement on our rights,” said Carolyn Dorant, 17, a senior at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire.
Lindsay Hewitt, 17, a senior at Lake Forest Academy, a private school, said she didn’t believe the proposed move would change the way teenagers eat.
“It’s not like it’s going to make people thin. The kids will just bring stuff from home,” Hewitt said.
Parents tended to side with the governor.
“They don’t need to be in school eating on snacks,” said Rebecca Coleman, who was picking up her four children from McCorkle Elementary School on the South Side.