No Coca Cola or Chips or Popcorn at Portland High Football Games

I have mixed feelings on this one. Sugar interferes with the students' ability to concentrate and focus. It makes it harder for them to learn.

I don't agree with the ban on soda and junk food at the concession stands, but I do agree that banning sugar from the cafeterias, vending machines and classrooms makes sense - because that sugar intake will affect the school day. If we want better scholastic results, it's not logical to sell kids food/beverages (or give them) which will be counter-productive to that effort.

The hardest part of getting such bans enacted is the soft drink distributors, who routinely make large donations to schools (money and sports equipment) in return for having the vending machines in schools, and their names on sports stands, etc.

Then, again, the LePage administration may have already solved this problem...

http://www.pressherald.com/news/focus-on-health-cut-from-schools_2012-07...

The LePage administration has eliminated funding for all school health coordinators in the state, a move that will save $2.1 million annually but will leave Portland and 30 other school districts without the staff members. Most have already left their jobs.

The decision was made in mid-June and took effect July 1...

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/maine/2012/08/17/portland-schools-bar-sod...

But, according to the Maine Sun Journal, on Friday, August 17th,

Chanda Turner, Portland's school health coordinator, tells The Portland Press Herald the policy doesn't prevent a student or teacher from bringing a soda to school. They just won't be able to buy one from a machine.

The new rules also don't apply to non-school groups that use school facilities.

Sugar interferes with the students' ability to concentrate and focus. It makes it harder for them to learn.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3059850

http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/sugar-and-candy-do-not-make-...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8052458

They may be diabetic (eventually), fat and have rotten teeth, but their behavior will be normal for fat, diabetic, green toothed kids.

Popcorn? The only whole grain snack? Maybe they want to divert it to ethanol production:-)

TJC - I have first-hand evidence, being a mother, and having been around other small children. Sugar makes most kids bounce around like a caffeinated puppy on steroids. I don't care how many white-coated people say otherwise. I know what I've seen (and lived through.....).

Yes, school kids should just sit quietly with their hands at their sides during all sporting events.

If kids aren't bouncing around like puppies on steroids then there's something wrong with them. Kids should be kids, not accessories.

Just have the doctor up the ritilan dose. You'll get the quiet zombies you're looking for.....

Naran,

Really? I graduated from HS in 1976.... Back then, Kool Aid was a very popular drink as was ZaRex. Jello a school staple, was made with sugar and desserts such as cake and cupcakes were served with every meal and often as snacks....as well as doughnuts and yes, at times fruit. This was in the pre-ADD or ADHD days when students who 'acted out ' were disciplined by teachers and principals. Back we still had 2 soda machines in the cafeteria and students could smoke in the parking lot. We were given salt tablets during double sessions and pepsi was available after practice. We had open campus so students could run to the store for pizza or a McDonalds run.

Of course back then we also scored well on academic tests, "The news is not encouraging. In 1972, of the high school seniors taking the SAT 11.4 percent had verbal scores over 600; by 1983 the number had dropped to 6.9 percent, and, despite modest gains in the mid-1980s, it remains in that disheartening vicinity. That's a decline of nearly 40 percent. The decline since the mid-1960s has probably been closer to 50 percent, but unfortunately the College Board changed its reporting system in 1972, and earlier data isn't available." source:http://catholiceducation.org/articles/education/ed0025.html

It's not the food choices which are the problem Naran, it's everything but to blunt. I'm ok with adding healthier choices, but not elimination of choice, especially for extra-curricular activites, where those monies often support the extra-curricular activity.

That's my humble opinion....

Students being indoctrinated to believe that government knows best.
When I was a kid, Class of 74, we needed all the sugar we could consume due to the fact that our mothers NEVER let us stay inside on a nice day and barely on a bad. Snow day ??? Go outside and play.!! Out the door at 730 on the weekend and back in at dark. REAL Koolaid, A slice of bread with butter and sugar sprinkled on it for a snack. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Not fat free, not sugar free. Sugar Pops or Frosted Flakes for breakfast. It's not so much what you eat as what you don't do anymore. Kids are fat because they are lazy. And we can't make fun of them anymore for being fat and lazy. That's called bullying.

Joe --- nice to hear from you!!

How are things in good ol' Maine Redneck Land?
:)