THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013
PAGE 3
HEALTH
Proposed legislation to ban junk food in schools
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Most candy, high-calorie drinks and greasy meals could soon be on a food blacklist in the nation's schools.
For the first time, the government is proposing broad new standards to make sure all foods sold in schools are more healthful.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this Sept. 12, 2012 file photo, side salads, apple sauce and plums await the students of Eastside Elementary School in Clinton, Miss. For the first time, the government is proposing broad new standards to make school snacks healthier, a move that would ban the sale of all candy, high-calorie sports drinks and greasy foods on campus.
Under the new rules the Agriculture Department proposed Friday, foods like fatty chips, snack cakes, nachos and mozzarella sticks would be taken out of lunch lines and vending machines. In their place would be foods like baked chips, trail mix, diet sodas, lower-calorie sports drinks and low-fat hamburgers.
The rules, required under a child nutrition law passed by Congress in 2010, are part of the government's effort to combat childhood obesity. While many schools already have improved their lunch menus and vending machine choices, others still are selling high-fat, high-calorie foods.
Under the proposal, the Agriculture Department would set fat, calorie, sugar and sodium limits on almost all foods sold in schools. Current standards already regulate the nutritional content of school breakfasts and lunches that are subsidized by the federal government, but most lunchrooms
also have "a la carte" lines that sell other foods. Food sold through vending machines and in other ways outside the lunchroom has never before been federally regulated.
"Parents and teachers work hard to instill healthy eating habits in our kids, and these efforts should be supported when kids walk through the schoolhouse door," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilms said.
Most snacks sold in school would have to have less than 200 calories. Elementary and middle schools could sell only water, low fat milk or 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice. High schools could sell some sports drinks, diet sodas and iced teas, but the calories would be limited. Drinks would be limited to 12-ounce portions in middle schools and to 8-ounce portions in elementary schools.
The standards will cover vending machines, the "a la carte" lunch lines, snack bars and any other foods regularly sold around school. They would not apply to in-school fundraisers or bake sales, though states have the power to regulate them. The new guidelines also would not apply to after-school concessions at school games or theater events, goodies brought from home for classroom celebrations, or anything students bring for their own personal consumption.
The new rules are the latest in a long list of changes designed to make foods served in schools more healthful and accessible. Nutritional guidelines for the subsidized lunches were revised last year and put in place last fall. The 2010 child nutrition law also provided more money for schools to serve free and reduced-cost lunches and required more meals to be
served to hungry kids.
The food industry has been onboard with many of the changes, and several companies worked with Congress on the child nutrition law two years ago. Major beverage companies have already agreed to take the most caloric sodas out of schools. But those same companies, including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, also sell many of the non-
soda options, like sports drinks, and have lobbied to keep them in vending machines.
A spokeswoman for the American Beverage Association, which represents the soda companies, says they already have reduced the number of calories that kids are consuming at school by pulling out the high-calorie sodas.
LEGAL
Wichita activists attempt to block clinic opening
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WICHITA — Anti-abortion activists delivered a petition with about 14,000 signatures to the Wichita City Council on Tuesday asking it to block the opening of a clinic at the building once owned by slain abortion provider George Tiller.
The city council took no action on the petition, which Kansans
for Life concede has no legal force. However, the group also plans to present the petition to the local planning commission later this month. The commission could recommend the city rezone the site or do nothing.
An attorney for the clinic's owner said it would challenge any attempt to use rezoning to prohibit the clinic from opening.
"Our view is that there is no legal
basis that will justify rezoning and that to the extent that the rezoning is motivated by a political purpose, it's improper," said Robert Eye, the Topea attorney representing the clinic's new owner. "The antichoice clique is effectively misusing the rezoning laws to accomplish its narrow purpose and that is inconsistent with what the law requires related to rezoning."
Trust Women Foundation Inc. purchased the building in late August. The abortion rights group plans to offer reproductive health care services, including abortions, when the clinic opens later this year.
The Wichita-based nonprofit
The petition asks the city to do "all in your power" to prevent the clinic from opening in what it contends is a residential neighborhood. It contends the clinic would create vehicular traffic, affect property values and change the atmosphere of the neighborhood due to
the noise and large crowds.
Eye said the clinic owners would oppose rezoning by whatever legal means required.
"I don't want to anticipate that the city of Wichita would do something that is not authorized by law, but if there is a misuse of the zoning laws to try to prevent a lawful operation of our clinic, then, yes, I will anticipate we would challenge that," he said.
KU1nfo
Monday is the last day to cancel a class. After Monday, a dropped class will appear as A on your transcript.
POLICE REPORTS
Information based on the Douglas County Sheriff's Office booking recap.
- A 23-year-old male was arrested Monday on the 4800 block of Bob Billings on suspicion of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. A $75,000 bond was paid.
- A 19-year-old male was arrested Monday on the 3600 block of 25th Street on suspicion of failing to appear in district court. A $500 bond was paid.
- A 27-year-old male was arrested Monday on the 3300 block of Iowa Street on suspicion of theft. A $100 bond was paid.
- A 42-year-old male was arrested yesterday on the 1700 block of 24th Street on suspicion of battery, obstruction of legal process, unlawful possession of controlled substances and criminal damage of property. A $5,000 bond was paid.
- A 23-year-old female was arrested Monday on the 900 block of Emery Road on suspicion of operating under the influence. She was released on a $500 bond.
- A 40-year-old male was arrested Monday on the 2400 block of Cedarwood Avenue on suspicion of domestic battery and aggravated kidnapping. A $50,000 bond was set.
- A 25-year-old male was arrested Monday on the 1900 block of East 19th Street on suspicion of aggravated and indecent liberties with a child. A bond of $75,000 was set.
Emily Donovan