Today the Soda... Tomorrow the Seltzer

In a very civic minded move, the major soda companies in the United States, namely Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola, Cadbury and the American Beverage Association, signed an agreement to stop selling sugars in school. This coming on the heels of the finding that soda is one of the primary causes of youth obesity in this country. This is not meant to imply that soda is the only culprit, but the one with deep enough pockets that they can afford to take the potential loss in revenue. Do I think this is the right move and that we are going to see healthier and happier kids? Probably not.

When I went to middle school way back in the early 1990's the most exciting thing for us was the fact that we now had our own soda machine. There was only one but it was a sign of our journey to adulthood that we had access to it whenever we wanted. Sure the faculty limited students to sodas at the end of the day or at lunch but we knew it was there which was quite comforting. In high school we had dozens located all over the school. Free access and unlimited quantities. So did that mean we saw heavier students in high school. Not really but there were some. Can we blame this on the fact that soda was there? No because have you ever seen the crap that they serve in some schools? There were days in school where I couldn't eat anything because it was so bad. Not only from a taste standpoint but from a nutritional standpoint as well.

I realize the difficulty in coming up with meals that are quick to prepare, tasty and good for you but there are standards that we can hold to. So okay, assume that we fix that and get healthy tasty food into schools. Therefore, logic would say that with healthy food and healthy drinks, America's children can be healthy once again right? Well, what about the fact that recess is quickly becoming part of the history lessons in school? When I had recess it lasted for at least half an hour and two or three times a week we had P.E. Now recess is being reduced to nearly half that and P.E. is becoming an option which not many kids want to take. After all, who wants to be all sweaty and grimey in school right?

But soda, that's the way to go! Take it out of schools and start selling seltzer water and milk, I'm sure everyone will love that! That is until the realize that heavy doses of seltzer water can cause ulcers.