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GAO Report Shows Junk Food in 9 out of 10 Schools

September 10, 2005
A report from the Government Accountability Office leaves little doubt about the proliferation of junk foods in America's schools. Despite pockets of progress around the country, the GAO report shows that nearly nine out of 10 schools offers junk foods to kids out of vending machines, school stores, and via "a la carte" lines right in the cafeteria.

Childhood Obesity • Most Kids' Meals Exceed Suggested Daily Intake • Safeway, Warner Bros. Promote Healthful Kids' Food • Childhood Obesity Holding Steady, Study Finds • Doctor Offers Antidote To 'Super-Size Me' Diet • Spanish Language TV Linked To Latino Child Obesity • States Get Poor Grades on School Food • More Sleep Time May Cut Child Obesity • Kellogg Pledges Food Marketing Changes • Consumer Group Scolds Nickelodeon • CSPI: School Food Plan Should be Law of the Land • TV Food Ads Make Obese Kids Hungrier • Study Finds Food is Most-Advertised Kids Product • Senate Eyes Stricter School Lunch Standards • More Teens Having Weight Loss Surgery • Sedentary Teens More Likely to Have Higher Blood Pressure • Poll: Obesity Top Health Issue for Kids • Pediatricians Want Stricter Controls on Junk Food Ads • Brits Take Action on Junk Food Ads Aimed at Kids --- • More ...

The report indicates that high schools are pretty much saturated with junk food, and middle schools seem to be getting worse, not better.

“That some high schools have come to depend on revenue from junk-food sales is a national disgrace, said Director Margo G. Wootan, Nutrition Policy Director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “But this revenue isn’t a donation from Coke or Pepsi ---it’s coming out of parents’ and children’s pockets, she added.

Schools can make money without selling junk food. A study by USDA and CDC found that in 17 schools and districts that measured revenue before and after improving school foods, 12 saw revenue increase and four had no change.

“We certainly encourage school systems and state legislatures to act on their own,” Wootan said, “but strong federal action is needed to protect what is, after all, a major federal investment in the school lunch program.”

Wootan added, “It’s startling how many legislators have put the “rights” of Coke, Pepsi, and other junk-food makers ahead of the things that parents value -- their kids’ education and health.”

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