Today, the United States is confronted with a public health crisis of the first order. Nearly 15 percent of American children and teenagers are obese. A quarter of children between the ages of 5 and 10 already show the early-warning signs of heart disease, and we are seeing more and more cases of adult-onset diabetes in children, something that used to be almost unheard of. In fact, cases of adult-onset diabetes in children have exploded tenfold in the last two decades.
Add it all up, and experts say there is a very real prospect that today’s kids could be the first generation in American history to have a shorter lifespan than their parent’s generation.
Curbing the epidemic of childhood obesity is a battle we must fight on multiple fronts: in our schools, in our neighborhoods and through the media, which we know has such a huge influence on America’s young people.
The first thing we must do is ensure our public schools are junk-food-free zones. According to the Government Accountability Office, 83 percent of elementary schools, 97 percent of middle schools and 99 percent of high schools have so-called “competitive food sources,” such as vending machines selling sugary sodas, candy and other junk food.
The prevalence of these unhealthy choices is undermining parents’ authority to make decisions about the diets of their children. No parent thinks it is a good idea to send their children to school with a snack of 15 teaspoons of sugar. But that’s roughly how much sugar is in a full-calorie 20-ounce soda, which are available in schools across the United States.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has joined me in introducing the Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act. This bill would update nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools. Currently, under 30-year-old USDA standards, it’s just fine for schools to sell ice cream, Oreos, Snickers candy bars, donuts and all kinds of other junk foods. Obviously, it’s time to update USDA standards based on all that we have learned about nutrition and obesity over the last three decades. The USDA spends nearly $9 billion a year of taxpayer money on nutritious breakfasts and lunches, but this investment is then sabotaged by the pervasive sale of junk food and sugary sodas elsewhere on campus.
It’s not just a matter of getting junk food out of our schools; we also need to get healthier foods into schools. The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, which I initiated in the 2002 farm bill, is a promising way to do exactly this. I started this program believing that kids would eat fresh fruits and vegetables if they were made available during the school day.
Experience thus far in the 14 participating states and three Indian reservations has shown this to be true. Not only do the kids, teachers, principals, and parents love the program, but before long, we had other states saying that they wanted the program too. This year’s farm bill provides us with an opportunity to make the Fruit and Vegetable a national program, and improve the nutrition of millions of at-risk children.
In addition to school nutrition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2000 that fewer than 10 percent of elementary schools, fewer than seven percent of junior high schools and fewer than six percent of senior high schools offer daily physical education or its equivalent. Also, a 2002 survey reported that more than 60 percent of children do not participate in any organized physical activity outside of school hours. My Promoting Lifelong Active Youth (PLAY) Every Day Act, which I introduced with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), enhances opportunities and access for children and families to participate in quality physical activity and physical education programs.
We must also recognize that America’s kids are inundated with advertisements for junk food. If America’s children and youth are to develop eating habits that help them avoid early onset of diet-related chronic diseases, they have to reduce their intake of high-calorie, fast foods, and sweetened drinks, which make up a high proportion of the products marketed to kids. Parents have a central role in helping kids make healthier food choices, but so do the food, beverage and child-entertainment industries.
Some in the food industry insist that there is no evidence that food marketing plays a role in the amount of junk food and calories kids consume. But corporate America doesn’t spend $12 billion a year on advertising aimed at children because it likes to waste money. They do it because it works — it persuades children to demand a regular diet of candy, cookies, sugary cereal, sodas and all manner of junk food.
Recently, many food and beverage companies have stepped up to the challenge and committed to advertising healthier food choices. Just last week, 11 major food and beverage companies pledged to focus their advertising to children under age 12 on more nutritious foods. The companies also agreed to restrict advertising using licensed characters to products that meet nutritional standards.
So, clearly the momentum is building, and we are finding new allies in our fight against childhood obesity. Now is the time for media companies to step up and commit to similar responsible initiatives to build on these efforts. Through my work with Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and the FCC Joint Task Force on Media and Childhood Obesity, we have begun to make progress. We have identified the pivotal issues and complexities of childhood obesity and are working across all sectors to develop a united solution that reduces marketing of unhealthy foods to children.
Yes, it is time for individual responsibility. But all of society — parents, schools, the federal government, and concerned citizens operating at all levels of government — should work together to provide our children with the best possible start in life. There is no better way to ensure that America has a prosperous future than to make sure that the next generation gets a healthy start in life.
Harkin is chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee.
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