How sweet it isn’t

Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005 | 7:41 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Nevada students can kiss their Hershey's goodbye.

Next school year the sale of soft drinks and candy in public schools will be limited. And by 2007, public students will get a daily dose of exercise at school.

Sen. Valerie Wiener, D-Las Vegas, on Tuesday told the Legislative Committee on Health that a quarter of all children are either overweight or in risk of obesity.

Dr. Brandon Lee, state health officer, said the state Board of Education has adopted a policy to limit what can be offered or sold at the schools. It follows a similar ban in Clark County.

Banned during the school day will be sodas, popsicles, hard candy, chocolate, jellies, gum, marshmallow candies, licorice, spun candy and candy-coated popcorn.

Each school district must adopt policies that adhere to the state rules or suffer the loss of federal breakfast and lunch funds, according to Gloria Dopf, deputy state superintendent of public instruction.

The state policy is that "foods of minimal nutritional value may not be sold or given away during the school day." But parents will be able to send foods of "minimal nutritional value to school" for their children.

The state guidelines call for food choices that are low in saturated fat and cholesterol while being moderate in total fat.

Saturated fats will be limited to 10 percent of the total calories in the food product. Total fats will be restricted to 30 percent of the total calories in the food.

Nuts, seeds, fluid milk products containing 2 percent or less fat and cheese or yogurt made from reduced-fat, low-fat or fat-free milk are exempt from the standard.

In 2004 the Clark County School Board enacted its own limits on junk-food sales to students, setting nutritional requirements that match the new state standards for fat and caloric content. Additionally the School Board banned food items containing more than 35 percent added sugar by weight or more than 600 milligrams of sodium per serving.

Donnell Barton, who heads the child nutrition program in the state Education Department, said Nevada followed the guidelines of the U.S. Agriculture Department. For instance, she said Snickers has nuts in it that are of some nutritional value, "but not a lot."

That's why some of those candy bars are allowed if they don't exceed the nutritional limits. Barton also said an important facet of the state's policy is the limit on servings during lunch.

For instance, in elementary schools, chips are limited to 1 ounce. And in middle and high school, the limit is 1.25 ounces. Barton said a small bag of chips contains 2.5 ounces.

The state didn't stop at nutritional concerns. Starting in the 2007 school year, each district must adopt a policy so that at least 30 minutes each day is devoted to physical activity.

That can include any physical education course, band, cheerleading, ROTC, passing periods and nutrition breaks. In elementary schools, recess constitutes physical activity.

The legislative committee noted that it's not only the schoolchildren who are getting heavier.

A chart from the state Health Division showed only 43.5 percent of adults are at a weight that equates to a body mass index below 25. The 2001 figures show 37 percent of adults are overweight and 19.5 percent are obese.

Lee said Nevada are "getting chunkier" since those statistics of four years ago.

The goal is to get 60 percent of Nevadans at a healthy weight by 2010.

Wiener said obesity leads to some types of cancer such as colon, gall bladder, prostate, kidney and breast cancer. And it is second only to tobacco in causing health problems, she said.

Wiener said state officials are worried about the budget consequences of this trend. At conferences that she has attended, state officials see the problem of overweight or obese people leading to the need for more money for Medicaid, the program that provides medical care for the needy.

An estimated 300,000 deaths per year may be attri-buted to obesity, according to the state Health Division. Even moderate weight excess of 10 to 20 pounds for a person of average height increases the risk of death, particularly among adults ages 30-64, according to the division. A weight gain of 11 to 18 pounds raises a person's risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

A statewide program of fitness and wellness is being developed by the division.

Cy Ryan may be reached at (775) 587-5032