Editorial: Making for better students

Saturday, Dec. 17, 2005 | 7:26 a.m.

The state Board of Education has banned the sale of most candy and sodas in public schools starting in the next academic year. As Sun reporter Cy Ryan reported this week, the state's new policy follows a similar ban for schools in Clark County.

Schools and groups supporting extracurricular activities often sell candy or soft drinks to raise money. While we understand that this could make it more difficult for these groups to support their efforts, we don't believe it's the school's place to be selling junk food to children.

As state Sen. Valerie Wiener of Las Vegas notes, a quarter of all children are either overweight or at risk of obesity. Schools shouldn't be making this problem worse.

In addition to clamping down on the sale of junk food, beginning in 2007 the state will require each school district to make sure that students devote a minimum of 30 minutes a day to physical activity. While this is a step in the right direction, it certainly is a baby step.

The 30 minutes of physical activity not only can include a physical education course, band, cheerleading and ROTC, but also nutrition breaks. Counting a nutrition break -- a time when a student ostensibly is supposed to be eating -- makes no sense. Recess -- an unstructured time when students can do what they want, including nothing -- can even be counted as physical activity in elementary schools. We are concerned that this new physical education standard will have little effect on improving the health of children.

Both a proper diet and regular exercise not only lead to physically fit students, but there is another ancillary benefit -- physically fit children often make better students in the classroom.

Parents themselves should be making sure that their children are eating properly and getting enough exercise at home.

Meanwhile, the school districts and those who in large part set their budgets -- state lawmakers and the governor -- should place a greater priority on physical education and make it a meaningful part of a child's day.