Release - Koutoujian Lauds New Institute of Medicine Standards on Junk Food in Schools - 04/26/2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 26, 2007 Contact: Patrick Golden
617-722-2130
KOUTOUJIAN LAUDS NEW INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE STANDARDS
ON JUNK FOOD IN SCHOOLS
Boston – State Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham, today lauded a new Institute of Medicine report that validates legislation he filed restricting the sale of junk food in schools.
Similar to pending legislation Koutoujian, House Chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Health, filed to ban the sale of junk food in public K-12 schools, the IOM report concludes that food made available in schools should be designed to meet nutritional standards.
Specifically, the IOM report “Nutritional Standards for Foods in Schools: Leading the Way Toward Healthier Youth” recommends that snacks, food and beverages contain no more than 35 percent of total calories from fat, less than 10 percent of total calories from saturated fats and have no trans-fats.
The report recommends federally reimbursable school nutrition programs should be the primary source of foods and beverages offered at school. It also calls for limiting the sale of soda to high schools, and then only after the school day has ended. Sports drinks should also be restricted, the report concludes, only being made available at the discretion of sports coaches for students engaged in vigorous activity lasting an hour or more.
“This report reaffirms what we have been saying for a long time,” said Koutoujian. “Our schools play a significant role in shaping the nutritional habits of our children, and junk food has little place in the same venue where we educate our children.”
The Joint Committee on Public Health with hold a public hearing on his bill, “An Act to Promote Proper School Nutrition,” next month.
“It’s great that now a national report is coming out supporting what we have been trying to do on local level,” said Susan Servais, executive director of the Massachusetts Health Council. “We have been working with Rep. Koutoujian for several years on the nutrition issue and one place to start to make improvement is with school nutrition. Several schools have already taken significant steps toward providing healthier foods for our children and we need to encourage others to follow suit.”
Previous reports have concluded that the presence of junk foods in schools has decreased federal reimbursements for lunch programs because fewer students buy school lunches when they have access to less healthy alternatives.
Other IOM recommendations include:
? Requiring that only healthy foods are available at elementary and middle schools during after school activities
? Restricting foods sold at elementary and middle school fundraisers to healthy options, and including healthy options at high school fundraisers.
? Locating junk food and beverage distribution in low student traffic areas and ensuring that the exterior of vending machines does not depict commercial products or logos or suggest that consumption of vended items conveys a health or social benefit.
? Allowing only healthy snack items are after school for student activities in elementary and middle schools.
To view the IOM report visit www.iom.edu.
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