TOTAL LICENSING
is a surrogate parent for 6 to 8 hours every day. USDA (Department of Agriculture) reports the cal Association ex-
But what do we find? average caloric intake per individual rose from plains “there is a 100
School meals by law are supposed to provide 1876 calories per day to 1905 calories in year billion dollars yearly
nutritious meals. Schools have been forced, 1977. Now, at present, it is 2043 calories per expense for the care
however, by budget cutbacks to reduce costs day. It's a bargain - how can you resist the lure and treatment of
by out-sourcing their lunch kitchens and their for only pennies. Diabetes and obesity
preparation of food to “for profit food services.” In the Sunday newspapers, you may find coupons connected vascular
These in turn return parts of their profits by for Kentucky Fried Chicken that will offer you diseases. One quarter
supporting team uniforms or entertainment a generous deep fried chicken breast, mashed of all Medicare dol-
events for students – so that’s good! But to potatoes with gravy, a biscuit and choice of two lars is spent for this.
make profits, they have to prefer cheap foods side orders (generally Macaroni and Cheese or A Rand/University of
and essentially they are not under anyone’s su- Corn on the Cob) with Coleslaw. All this with Chicago reports writes: “More Americans are
pervision but their own. your coupon for two dollars and change. But obese than smoke, use illegal drugs, or suffer
Coca-Cola or Pepsi pays the schools yearly fees if you are a senior citizen you even get a fur- from ailments unrelated to obesity”.
for putting their vending machines near the one ther discount. In the fast food restaurants you The last 10 to 20 years of intense research has
left-over milk machine or water dispenser. If will get "Wendy's Supremo Salad", "Hardee's established:
your child is a normal average youngster what Thick Burger", "The Big Gulp" at 7-Eleven. Just a. Diet and food control is only a component of
will they choose to put their change (lunch read these advertising slogans: "All you can Eat", fighting the obesity crisis - not a solution!
money) into? "Two for One", "Value Meal". b. There’s a critical difference between mild
Actual examples: (certainly extreme but not Outback Steak House with its Aussie sized por- overweight - and a great amount of it. If a slight-
rare.) tions, and its excellent "Bloomin' Onion Rings" ly overweight person is “fit”, fitness is the key to
The school system of Colorado Springs signed side dish or appetizer, packs 2500 calories. health! this is the key!
a 10 year multi-million dollar contract with c. Diet alone cannot provide fitness - only con-
Coca Cola granting exclusivity for Coca Cola PHYS ED sistent moderately strenuous exertion can burn
products in all schools. When the school sys- Financial scarcity restraints force schools to the excess calories or keep them from accumu-
tem could not sell the 17,000 cases it had budget how to spend their funds. lating. This means life style change.
guaranteed to sell, the executive director of Some years ago, HEAD START began, when we
school leadership suggested strongly that Coke noticed that our education lagged behind for- ETHNIC NEIGHBORHOODS AND THE
machines be moved to be “accessible to all stu- eign schools in science, when we noticed that BURDEN OF POVERTY
dents”. Surely the money helped, and brought students arrived in high school and sometimes All this collective research brought another
the school system needed funds for Education. even at the college gates, deficient in basic spell- quandary: Why did test after test show higher
It probably helped to keep school taxes lower ing (of course, the computer has spell-check) obesity rates amongst black and Hispanic popu-
- but at what price? Would you believe that even and reading ability... lations.
the most famous and most visited museum in When businesses complained and Boards of • Could there be a metabolic difference be-
the USA (The Air and Space Museum in Wash- Education moved to battle the malaise with tween components of our multi cultural mix in
ington, D.C.’s Smithsonian Institute, a must for additional programs, the Phys Ed program was the capacity to retain fat. Are inherited genes
every tourist) accepted a $5 million gift in ex- shunted to the side by new and endless man- involved?
change for a 10 year contract with Coca-Cola dated tests. Both time and money gave out and • Class and race as causes of inequality are
to feature food from McDonald and two other Phys Ed wound up on the chopping block. Yes..... very sensitive issues in democratic nominally
McDonald owned companies: Donatos Pizzeria maybe the school’s few teams with their color- egalitarian America: the issues smell of racism,
and Boston Market in its cafeteria. All this is big ful and inspiring jerseys and their cheer-leaders anti immigration, discrimination, social inequal-
business! escaped but the old-fashioned fitness and gym ity.
Just to give an instructive opposite example: By programs for the unromantic task of putting • Do African Americans, Mexican Americans,
removing all soft drink machines, except one, ever heavier unenthusiastic students through and Native Americans, have more insulin resis-
North Community High School in Minneapolis their paces and to find schedule time became tance residing in chromosome II.
gained space to add fruit and vegetable juice ma- difficult. • Are lifestyle and sociological location a ma-
chines and was able to change prices: Soft drink Phys Ed (PE) shrank and shrank and sometimes jor player in observed differences?
$1.25 - Fruit and Vegetable Juice $1.00. Water shrank away altogether. • Is psychological abhorrence of fat different
bottles .75 cents. The students voted with their For instance, Georgia’s school overhaul eliminat- amongst upper class and middle class popula-
funds. Soda pop sales declined. Water and Juice ed PE in grades 6 - 8 and provided PE only for tions versus lower class populations a factor?
increased and the school did not lose money! kindergarten through grade 5. At the same time • Is disposable income a factor? Education?
There is another way! 30 minutes of academic courses were added to A few noteworthy details:
the program. Such examples abound. Statistics • The average food market in Los Angeles
SUPER SIZING say that 35% of students have no school run vig- serves 18,649 shoppers. In lower income ar-
• The basic cost of more food is minimal to orous program and that nearly half don’t play on eas it serves 27,986 shoppers. It is therefore
the perceived greater value. Just make larger sports teams. This adds bulk to exactly those assumable that there are more super markets
packages! who would need the programs the most. in middle-class (white?) neighborhoods than in
• Big is in! Traditional portions are out! Look To be fair, while we criticize conditions we must Afro American or Latino communities.
at the calories of the average helping of McDon- give credit to the American Institute of Health, • If there are less nearby supermarkets one
ald's tasty French fries: The President’s (George Bush) Council on must shop in small convenience food stores or
1960: 200 calories Physical Fitness and Sports, The American Heart neighborhood bodegas that must limit selection
End 1970s: 320 calories Association, the U.S. Surgeon General – they all and favor lowest price (often junk food) offer-
Mid 1990s: 450 calories began to lecture and profile the dangers. It is ings, to accommodate their shoppers.
Late 1990s: 480 calories difficult, however, to slow down or to reverse • Food stamps are denominated in money -
Now: 610 calories the long term causes and effects of earlier inat- not in calories - and it is understandable that
Every part of the meal grew; a once 590 calorie tention. one must choose to find the most for the least.
meal now has become 1550 calories. The nation realized that, as the American Medi- It is probably all the above and even more which
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