May 04--Restrictions on sugary drinks and junk food snacks in California elementary schools appear to have slightly reduced kids' risk of becoming overweight or obese -- but mostly among children from wealthier neighborhoods, a new study suggests.
Examining body mass index measurements of 2,700,880 fifth-graders in the state over a 10-year period, researchers found that students from the wealthiest third of schools saw their odds of exceeding a healthy weight fall by about 1% per year. For all other students, the trends remained essentially flat.
"The magnitude of improvements depended on levels of school neighborhood socioeconomic advantage," they wrote Monday in the online edition of JAMA Pediatrics.
The researchers studied the effects of two California laws, both of which targeted "competitive food and beverages" -- products sold on campus alongside the school meal program. The first regulation, SB 677, which went into practice in 2004, limited the sale of sugary drinks and higher-fat milk to students in kindergarten through eighth grade. A second law, SB 12, became effective in 2007 and limited fat and sugar calories in snack foods.
To evaluate the laws' impact, the researchers looked at fitness and weight measurements collected through California's Fitnessgram test, which is given to fifth-, seventh- and ninth-grade students in the state. Kids were considered overweight or obese if their body mass index was at or greater than the 85th percentile, according to growth charts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The researchers also considered students' age, race or ethnicity and fitness level -- all compiled from Fitnessgram -- as well as school and neighborhood characteristics such as school size and neighborhood income level. Overall, the proportion of kids who were overweight or obese rose somewhat over the course of the study, from 43.5% in 2001 to 45.8% in 2010, the team reported. But that growth rate was slower in the period after the competitive food and beverage rules went into effect than it had been in earlier years -- suggesting that the policies had a positive, if modest, impact in general.
The authors speculated that a lack of availability of physical education in schools in poorer neighborhoods may have contributed to the flat results among less-wealthy kids. Another factor could have been problems with implementation of the competitive food laws.
They said they believed their study was the first to look at socioeconomic context while examining the influence of competitive food and beverage laws on student weight, and called for more research to understand how neighborhood socioeconomic status impacts policy success.
In Los Angeles Unified, officials say they have seen a general improvement in student health and fitness since the district launched pioneering reforms of its school food policies more than a decade ago.
Outpacing the nation, the district banned soda and sugar-based drinks in 2002 and limited sodium and fat in snack foods sold in vending machines and school stores in 2003.
After the federal government imposed new rules for school food in 2010 requiring less sugar, fat and sodium and more fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains, L.A. Unified overhauled its menus -- eliminating chicken nuggets and corn dogs, for instance, in favor of such fare as turkey burgers and vegetarian calzones.
And individual campuses have gone even further in promoting healthy eating. Beachy Avenue Elementary in Arleta and Overland Elementary in West L.A., for instance, have sharply restricted classroom birthday celebrations, banning food but allowing stickers, cards and other non-food items.
"There were doughnuts every day," said Overland Principal Anna Born. "That's not happening at all anymore."
At Beachy, Principal Stephen Bluestein said the various policy changes, along with better health and nutrition education, had made a difference.
"Students definitely know more about what good food is," he said.
Bluestein said he was not surprised that the study found different degrees of progress in combating obesity depending on the neighborhood's income level. At Beachy, where nearly all families are low-income, Bluestein said vendors waited outside school to sell such unhealthful snacks as corn slathered in mayonnaise and sugar-drenched snow cones. And many parents who bring lunch to their children send McDonald's Happy Meals and other food high in sodium, sugar or fat, he said.
"If I'm not busy, I'll tell parents that isn't the healthiest food, but I can't overrule a parent," he said.
At Woodland Hills Elementary, Bluestein's previous school in a more affluent neighborhood, the principal said there were no such vendors and homemade lunches were generally more healthful -- whole wheat sandwiches and salads, for instance.
He speculated that parents in lower-income neighborhoods might not have the time or money to buy more healthful food for their children.
UPDATES
4:44 p.m. The story was updated to include comments from two elementary school principals.
The story was originally published at 2:46 p.m.
