The Wisdom of Banning Soda from Schools

On the same day that the Bill Clinton Foundation announced that sodas will be banned at nearly all schools in America – including private and parochial - the Health and Human Services Department refused to ban advertising junk food to children. Congratulations to the Bill Clinton Foundation on negotiating the ban with soft drink companies. Shame on Health and Human Services.

Soft drinks and junk food contribute significantly to overweight. Even people who count calories often forget the impact of 150 calories per each 8 ounce glass of soda. "We know that a client can lose 23 pounds a year simply by eliminating soda (diet and sugar-packed) from their diets, says Suzy Prudden, CEO of Positive Changes Hypnosis of Beverly Hills, which specializes in hypnosis for weight loss. "In some cases switching from diet soda to water is the only change clients make in their eating habits. To their astonishment, the pounds and inches fall away."

Specialists in weight loss have long recognized that if they can get our clients off junk food, the clients can lose one to two pounds a week and save money in the process. "Junk food is supposed to be cheap, but salads prepared at home are cheaper and healthier. One of our clients saved $12,000 in one year by eliminating junk food from her diet. She lost 100 pounds. It costs $3000 a year to maintain 30 extra pounds. Junk food is not cheap."

The America way of eating is killing our next generation. The PCH center sees children as young as fourteen coming in to lose weight – just after they have been diagnosed with Type II diabetes.

Advertising junk food and soda to children makes as much sense in human terms as advertising prescription drugs to the general public. Yes indeed, it does get them to ask for what they don’t need and shouldn’t have by name, but is that a good thing if they will weigh 200 pounds before they hit puberty? Health and Human Services should be ashamed of itself. The tab for not taking action will be costly, as early deaths and high medical bills assail this new generation. Already obesity and diabetes have increased alarmingly, can heart disease and cancer be far behind?