| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 16, 2006
ISBE adopts Gov. Blagojevich’s proposal to ban
junk food in Illinois elementary and middle schools
State Board of Education approves rules
that will allow children to have a healthier diet in school
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Board of Education
(ISBE) today adopted rules to officially ban junk food
and soda in Illinois elementary and middle schools. In
November, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich asked the nine board
members to ban junk food and soda in Illinois elementary
and middle schools. Research shows that healthier students
have higher attendance rates, better behavior, and superior
test scores.
“Good nutrition helps children attend school more
regularly, behave better when they’re in school,
and score better on tests,” said Gov. Blagojevich.
“But despite the obvious reasons to eat healthy,
for children, the temptation to eat junk food can just
be too great. Today, the State Board approved rules to
reduce this temptation for kids to replace nutritious
meals at school with things like candy, soda, pizza and
chips.”
The State Board has the authority under the National
School Lunch Program to prohibit elementary and middle
schools throughout Illinois that participate in the program
from selling junk food and soda during the school day.
Elementary school students in Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey,
New York, and West Virginia already cannot get junk food
in schools until at least after lunch. And other states
have gone even further. Hawaii bans junk food in all schools
all day. Florida bans the sale of junk food in elementary
schools all day, and in secondary schools until after
lunch.
Existing State Board rules already prohibit the sale
of junk food in elementary schools during breakfast and
lunch, but if students snack too much between mealtimes,
they may not have appetites for healthy foods at lunch.
Today’s action changes the rules to prohibit junk
food during the entire school day in elementary and middle
schools. The new rules will begin to take affect in the
2006-2007 school year.
In addition to prohibiting junk food throughout the school
day, the new rules will also change the definition of
junk food to focus on what’s most important –
the food’s nutritional content.
“We have answered Governor Blagojevich’s
call to ban junk food in elementary and middle schools,”
said Board Chairman Jesse Ruiz. “The State Board
is defining junk food in a way that makes sense and ensures
the health of children. These rules will help students
have a healthier diet and perform better in school.”
The average child drinks twice as much soda as milk,
according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
One quarter of everything adolescents eat is considered
junk food according to a study from Project Lean. In addition,
children nationwide are consuming an average 150 to 200
more calories per day than they did just ten years ago.
Nationally, 15 percent of children ages 5 to 19 are overweight,
triple that of 20 years ago. The increased weight is causing
increases in serious medical conditions like Type II diabetes
and is setting the stage for coronary heart disease, stroke
and cancer. A study in Arkansas showed that Type II diabetes
– a condition once found almost exclusively in adults
– is up 800 percent among children compared to the
past decade.
The notice of the adopted rules will be submitted to
the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules to initiate
JCAR’S review. When the process is complete, the
adopted rules will be filed with the Secretary of State
and implemented during the 2006-2007 school year.
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