Soda Calories in Schools Dropping, Industry Says

The number of calories shipped to U.S. schools in the form of sodas, sports drinks and other beverages dropped by 41 percent over the past year, according to news from the American Beverage Association and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.

The report comes after the first year of a three-year program to reduce the amount of drink calories consumed by schoolchildren and to offer healthier beverage choices in schools. Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages, the Coca-Cola Company and Pepsi adopted the guidelines in May 2006 in response to efforts by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a joint initiative led by the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association.

"The number of calories going into schools has declined substantially, with shipments of full-calorie carbonated soft drinks falling almost in half," said Robert Wescott with Keybridge Research LLC, an economics analysis and public policy research firm that prepared the first-year beverage report.

Keybridge's analysis reported that there was a 45-percent drop in shipments of full-calorie soft drinks to schools between 2004 and the 2006-2007 school year. That indicates that the average high-school student bought and consumed less than a half-can (5.9 ounces) of full-calorie beverage in school last year, compared to a little over one full can (12.5 ounces) a week in 2004. During that time period, shipments of bottled water to schools rose by 2004.

A nutrition expert with the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) said the change was welcome, but added much more improvement is needed.

"The good news is that soft drinks sales are declining in schools," said Margo G. Wootan, CSPI's nutrition policy director. "The bad news is the majority of school beverages are still sugary drinks."

Wootan noted that the change in beverage consumption is likely to have been driven more by new mandatory limits adopted in several states, rather than by the voluntary standards set by beverage makers. States that have passed new regulations on school soda sales in recent years include Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Kentucky and New Jersey.

Wootan added that greater improvement in school nutrition could be achieved by passage of legislation sponsored by U.S. Sens. Tom Harkin (D, Iowa) and Lisa Murkowski (R, Alaska). Their proposed bill, Senate Bill 771, would require the U.D. Department of Agriculture to update the school nutrition standards it established in 1966. Under the current standards, sales of soda and other junk foods are restricted only in school cafeterias, and only during mealtimes.

"Given that two-thirds of high school beverage sales are still sugary drinks, voluntary industry action and a patchwork of state and local policies are not enough to solve the problem," Wootan said.

The beverage industry's voluntary standards, set to be fully in place by the 2009-2010 school year, aim to move school beverage choices to lower-calorie and smaller-portion options, including 100-percent juice, low-fat milk and bottled water in middle schools, and diet sodas, low-calorie teas and calorie-capped sports drinks and flavored waters in high schools.

The American Beverage Association and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, "School Beverages and You." URL: (http://schoolbeverages.com/index.aspx)