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It's
time to stop unhealthy school fundraisers
March 01, 2007
Suzanne Havala Hobbs
Support
your school, eat a donut.
Or buy cookie dough, candy and pizza kits.
Despite record levels of obesity in children and their family
members – and the health problems associated with excess
weight – school fundraisers regularly pressure children
and their families to buy and consume junk.
It’s time for that to stop.
Other aspects of the school environment are already improving.
Schools are removing soft drinks from vending machines and
lunchrooms are cutting the sodium and bad fats in the meals
they serve.
They have to.
When Congress renewed funding for federal child nutrition
programs in 2004, it for the first time required that school
districts participating in the national school meals program
put into place new wellness policies addressing nutrition
and physical activity. Wellness policies must include guidelines
for all foods served on school grounds during the day, with
input from students, parents, school administrators, foodservice
workers, the school board and the public.
Guidelines agreed on for school districts have to conform
to – or do better than – federal-level guidelines
for healthy eating.
Foods served outside the school, however, are exempt. Though
some school districts are taking steps to make changes, many
continue to sell foods of low nutritional value to raise money
for athletic programs, parent-teacher associations, and various
clubs and other student groups.
A report published by the Center for Science in the Public
Interest last month compared healthy and unhealthy school
fundraisers, listing recommended fundraisers and those to
avoid. (View the report at http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/schoolfundraising.pdf).
Common school fundraisers that undermine health:
* Bake sales. Parents are too busy to bake, so they contribute
ready-made, commercial cakes and cookies or use quick sugar-
and bad fat-laden mixes if they do fix their own at home.
* Junk food product sales. Chocolate and other kinds of candy,
donuts, cookie dough, pizza dough and pizza kits are popular.
Catalogs for gift wrap fundraisers often include candy, too.
* Fast-food promotions. Fast-food restaurants designate special
weeknights for school fundraising and sell gift cards encouraging
families to eat more fast food. Schools should be discouraging
– not encouraging – children to eat at fast-food
restaurants.
* Label redemption programs. Families collect product labels
or other proofs of purchase and schools redeem them for cash
or supplies. An analysis of eligible products from Campbell’s
and General Mills’s education fundraising programs found
the majority to be of low nutritional value, according to
CSPI.
Fortunately, many fundraising alternatives exist that don’t
harm health. In fact, some promote it. For example:
* Rope-jumping, walk-a-thons and fun runs. Sponsorships generate
cash for schools and teach kids that being physically active
can be fun and rewarding.
* Non-food product sales. Plants, flowers, toys, books, wrapping
paper, coupon books, magazine subscriptions, calendars and
candles sell well and contain no added sugar or trans fat.
* Services such as car washes or dog washes. There’s
an added benefit of giving children the experience of working
cooperatively in teams.
* Healthy food sales. Fresh fruit, nuts, spices, bottled water
and granola bars.
* Sales of items with the school logo. T-shirts, sweat pants,
shorts, hoodies, caps, pens and pencils, hair ties, notebooks
and water bottles.
And that’s just a start. New requirements for school
districts to develop wellness policies don’t require
after-hours fundraisers to conform. But they should. Add your
voice to those that are advocating for change.
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