Nutrition Policy

Ontario schools to be junk-food-free in 2011; Pop, candy, fries gone, but critic sees too many calories

The Ottawa Citizen
Thu Jan 21 2010
Page: A1 / FRONT
Section: News
Byline: Don Lajoie and Tony Spears
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
 
Ontario students will no longer be able to buy candy, chocolate, pop, fries and energy drinks on school property, starting in September 2001, the provincial government announced Wednesday.

Making the announcement for the Ministry of Education, Liberal MPP Pat Hoy said the decision was meant to curb the increase in overweight children making badhealth choices. He said the goal, ultimately, is to save the province money in future health costs.

"Studies show that 28 per cent of our students, between two and 17, are overweight or obese," said Hoy.

"Naturally, that's not a good state to be in, leading to all sorts of health problemslike diabetes and heart disease.

"We would like to do something about it. Also, good nutrition seems to be a significant factor in how well children do in school."

But at least one Ottawa nutrition expert, Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, medical director of Ottawa's Bariatric Medical Institute, lambasted the government for its "half-measure" approach.

While he concedes it's better than nothing, Freedhoff worries the ban might bemistaken for a victory in the fight against childhood obesity.

"People might presume that this is a sufficiently large step and that we're done.

"To me it doesn't sound like we're even remotely done," he said. "You're leaving the junk food in the schools -- you're just getting rid of the incredibly egregiousoffenders and leaving in the stuff that's less bad, but still bad."

Calories -- "the currency of weight" -- only appear twice in the School Food and Beverage Policy memo posted Jan. 15 on the Ontario government website, which lays out details of what will and will not be permissible in schools when the changes come into effect.

"To suggest that (calories) are not important enough to consider in the evaluation of what foods we should be serving our already overweight and obese children really suggests that somebody is not doing their job," Freedhoff said, adding that the foods appeared to have been evaluated with a "very, very lenient brush."

Hoy said the new nutrition standards, which will be mandatory across the province by Sept. 1, 2011, will be covered under the Health Food For Schools Act, which also requires 20 minutes of daily activity for pupils in the elementary grades.

A government background paper states that fewer than half of the province's high school age students eat the recommended daily minimum of fruit and vegetables.

"The nutrition standards will make it easier for schools to determine which foods they can and cannot sell," said Hoy. "Fully 80 per cent of the new school menu must include products with the highest levels of essential nutrients and the lowest amounts of fat, sugar and sodium."

He said those replacement items may include more fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grain breads.

Only 20 per cent of the menu can include products with slightly higher amounts of fat, sugar and sodium, such as bagels and cheese.

Anne Teutsch, chairwoman of the Ottawa Carleton Assembly of School Councils, said she had not had the chance to canvass parents about the new rules. But she said parents with children in elementary schools -- where junk food has been banned since 2004 -- have been happy with the ban.

"There's nobody coming up and saying 'we should be allowed to serve junk food to our kids'," she said.

Yet Freedhoff pointed out that even the healthiest 80 per cent of entrées are allowed to contain as much as 960 milligrams of sodium. The recommended daily intake for children is 1,200 milligrams a day, Freedhoff said.

"So permitting foods to stay in the schools that have, in a single serving, three quarters or more of a day's worth of sodium does not suggest a particularly rigourous approach at ridding the schools of foods that are unhealthy."

Fresh foods, whole grains and meals with less sodium and fewer calories are what the government should be striving for, Freedhoff said.

Don Lajoie writes for Canwest News Service. Tony Spears is a Citizen staff writer.