Prohibits the sale of certain foods in vending machines on school grounds or property

Title of bill

An act to amend the education law, in relation to the prohibition of the sale of certain foods in vending machines on school grounds or property

Purpose

To combat childhood obesity by restricting the availability of foods of minimal nutritional value,

Summary of provisions

Section 1 amends the Education Law by adding a new Section 915-a prohibiting the sale of certain foods in vending machines. No vending machine on the grounds of any public school or on any public school property shall make available for sale to pupils food and drinks of minimal nutritional value, including but not limited to the following:

a. Candy including hard candy and chocolate candy, jellies, gums, marshmallow candies, fondant, licorice, spun candy and candy covered popcorn,

b. Carbonated water with added sweeteners, or beverages that contain caffeine or sweeteners. However the new section expressly does not limit on the sale of chocolate mild, flavored mild, soy or rice milk, or juice with sweeteners produced from natural sources, the term "sweetener" is defined to include any additive that enhances the sweetness of a beverage including artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, acesulfame K and saccharin.

The terms of any contract entered into between a school district and a business or corporation for the operation of a vending machine or the granting of exclusive rights shall comply with the provisions of this section. If a school district is a party to a contract which provides for periodic renewals, the term of such renewal must comply with the provisions of this section.

Section 2 provides that this act shall take effect on July first after the date on which it becomes law. However, the provisions of this act shall not affect any contract entered into on or before the effective date.

Justification

Childhood obesity is too common. An estimated 15% of American children are overweight three times the number of overweight children reported in 1980. The primary causes are decreased physical exercise and increased consumption of junk foods and drinks. In some cases, the change in habits is dramatic. An article published in The Lancet in 2001 found that soft-drink consumptions had increased by almost 500% over the past fifty years. Their study found that "the odds of becoming obese increased significantly for each additional daily serving of sugar sweetened drinks. Being too heavy is expensive as well as bad for you. According to an article in the Medical Journal Pediatrics, overweight kids incur disproportionate healthcare costs; over the last twenty years, "obesity associated annual hospital costs increase more than three-fold, from $35 million during 1979-1981 to $127 million during 1997-1999." If we fail to address this issue, we will have a future generation plagues with Type II Diabetes, sleep apnea, gallbladder disease, and heart problems. Sick children grow into sick adults, whose healthcare needs disrupt their families and strain their budgets - or the budgets of our public Medicare and Medicaid insurance programs. It is smarter, cheaper and kinder to prevent childhood obesity than to treat its complications. As a first step, we should assure that our schools are places where children learn to live healthy lives, free of junk food. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY : A.5882 and S.4940 of 2005/2006 A.6563-B and S.5446-A of 2003/2004

Fiscal implications

Potential savings in Medicaid cost.

Effective date

July 1st after the act becomes law.