The State Board of Education voted 4-3 on Wednesday to end Colorado’s seven-year ban on diet sodas in the state’s public high schools, leaving it up to local school districts to implement their own restrictions on junk food and soft drinks.
The majority agreed with school officials who said that adhering to both Colorado’s Healthy Beverage Policy, implemented in 2009, and new federal Smart Snacks in Schools standards were too burdensome.
The state’s policy details the type, size and calorie count of beverages allowed in schools outside of the federal school meal program. Critics say the fed’s Smart Snacks isn’t restrictive enough and aligning with it would make unhealthy snacks more readily available for students.
Board member Joyce Rankin said that even with Colorado’s restrictive soda policies, kids are still accessing sodas with ease.
“It (the current state policy) started out with very good intentions but the obesity rates of our children are still through the roof,” Rankin said.
Because Wednesday’s 4-3 vote was the first after a public hearing, it had to be unanimous to pass. That means the board will vote on the proposal again in September, but the issue will need only a simple majority to pass.
Several health advocacy groups including the Colorado PTA spoke against the proposal, saying lifting the ban on sodas and diet sodas would allow soft drink companies to begin marketing their products on school grounds.
“Allowing diet sodas in schools just provides an unnecessary marketing opportunity to an industry that has fueled the obesity epidemic and the tooth decay epidemic,” said Wyatt Hornsby, campaign director for Delta Dental of Colorado Foundation.
Most board members agreed with Brehan Riley, director of the Office of School Nutrition for the Colorado Department of Education, who said school districts can make their own rules on sodas on campus that can go farther than state or federal standards.
“School districts can be more restrictive,” she said. “It is up to them.”
