Update on Progress of Nutritional Bills

For the past four months, this blog has followed the progress of issues currently being addressed in the 82nd Texas Legislature. A variety of subjects, including eminent domain, smoking, and gambling, have been discussed by Texas politicians; however, the $27 billion budget shortfall dominated debate for much of this session. 

While the topic of altering nutritional and physical education programs in Texas public schools did not receive much attention, several bills in the House and Senate regarding minor alterations to similar existing bills were passed.   

HB 127 created more strict rules relating to the types of beverages that may be sold to students on public school campuses. The bill was passed in House and has been received by the Senate.

HB 280 alters a health credit for high school graduation. The bill was referred to Public Education in February and no action has been taken since.


HB 281 alters physical education credits required for high school graduation. The bill was referred to Public Education and no action has been taken.




HB 643 deals with summer nutrition programs in public school districts. The bill was referred to the Agriculture and Livestock committee in February and was left pending in committee.
  
SB 185 creates more rigorous physical education requirements in Texas public schools. The bill refereed to Education in January and no action has been taken since.  

SB 225 relates to developing reports about goals information needed order to promote improved student health. The bill was referred to Education in January.

Debate over school nutrition and physical education programs is likely to continue in the future as obesity becomes a growing issue for children in Texas.

Changing Nutrition Programs Can Save Money

As the 82^nd Texas Legislature progressed this session, legislation regarding nutritional standards and physical education requirements in the Texas Public Schools lost attention while other important issues, such as budget cuts and bullying, became the center of education debate. 
 

Obesity however affects over 30 percent of Texas children—meaning that school nutrition it is not an issue that the Texas legislature can overlook. According to the CDC, obese children are more likely to develop a wide array of health problems, including cardiovascular disease and sleep apnea. Obese children also run a higher risk of becoming obese adults, making them more likely to develop heart disease, type-2 diabetes, and even cancer. Watch this video to learn more about the dangers of America's childhood obesity epidemic. 

Because public schools provide an important source of food to many of Texas’ youth, legislators need to examine and create nutritional standards and programs in these schools to combat obesity. 

Attempts to alter nutrition plans in public schools however are opposed by some American citizens. The primary argument against more strictly regulating nutritional standards is that implementing these programs would be costly. This is a reasonable concern in a recession when many states, including Texas, are cutting education funding dramatically. However, developing stronger nutritional programs in public schools actually helps save money in several ways.

• Extensive studies by organizations, such as Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools, show that “poor nutrition and physical inactivity” cost schools money. As explained by HKHS, this is because unhealthy, obese students demand more attention from their schools. For example, these students often require more visits to school nurses and often have lower academic achievement, meaning that additional time and money is needed to combat their poor health and weak performance.
• Also, in Texas, where education budgeting is based on attendance, overweight children can greatly reduce funding for schools. Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools also explains obese children miss an average of one day of school each month. In larger school districts, this can add up to about $5.5 million of lost funding.
• Furthermore, the minimal short-term costs of implementing better nutrition programs to combat obesity will ultimately cost states less money than the long-term health care costs obese children will face. In their pamphlet, Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools shows that Texas estimates that by 2040 obesity-related medical issues will cost the state $39 billion. According to PBS, implementing the federal government's "Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act" will only cost the government only $4.5 billion.  

These examples highlight ways in which implementing better nutritional plans in public schools can help save money.  Some Americans dismiss the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act and other attempts to better school nutrition assuming that these programs will be funded in tax dollars—money that will ultimately come out of their pockets. However, upon further examining the programs, it is clear that bettering nutrition in schools will help America's children while saving money.

These links provide information on the progress of bills relating to school nutrition in the 82nd Texas Legislature:

• HB 127: relating to the types of beverages that may be sold to students on public school campuses; referred to Public Health.

• HB 280: relating to requiring a health credit for high school graduation; referred to Public Education.

• HB 281: relating to physical education credits required for high school graduation; referred to Public Education.

• HB 643: relating to summer nutrition programs in school districts; referred to Agriculture and Livestock committee.

• SB 185: relating to physical activity requirements for students in public schools; refereed to Education.

• SB 225: relating to including in public school campus improvement plans and in local school health advisory council reports to school district boards of trustees certain goals and objectives or information in order to promote improved student health; referred to Education.

Other States Can Help TX Change Nutrition

A recent article in the Star Telegram brought attention to several educational issues outside of budget cuts that have become "hot topics" in the 82nd Texas Legislature. While "anti-bullying" and "truth in grading" bills have become central to the current debate surrounding public education, bills regarding changes in nutrition and physical education programs have lost attention in Texas.

These nutrition bills are however still progressing through the session and details on each can be found at the following links:

• HB 127: relating to the types of beverages that may be sold to students on public school campuses; referred to Public Health.

• HB 280: relating to requiring a health credit for high school graduation; referred to Public Education.

• HB 281: relating to physical education credits required for high school graduation; referred to Public Education.

• HB 643: relating to summer nutrition programs in school districts; referred to Agriculture and Livestock committee.

• SB 185: relating to physical activity requirements for students in public schools; refereed to Education.

• SB 225: relating to including in public school campus improvement plans and in local school health advisory council reports to school district boards of trustees certain goals and objectives or information in order to promote improved student health; referred to Education.

While the debate over nutrition in public schools has lost attention in Texas, it does remain an important topic of discussion and efforts to alter nutritional standards in many other states, including Pennsylvania and New York.

A recent New York Times article highlights steps being taken by schools, such as William D. Kelley, in Philadelphia. In 2003, a special project developed in Philadelphia to better nutrition in the area’s public schools. The project is sponsored by the Food Trust Mission—a nonprofit organization founded in 1993 to “develop a comprehensive approach that combines nutrition education and greater availability of affordable, healthy food.” Their Comprehensive School Nutrition Policy Initiative is an attempt to give America’s youth “the skills, social support and environmental reinforcement needed to adopt long-term healthy eating habits.” Recent studies show that the project is working and has reduced “the incidence” of childhood obesity” by 50 percent in Philadelphia Schools. It is interesting to note that, in Philadelphia, one non-profit organization was central in changing nutritional standards in the city's schools. Rather than simply push legislative change, the Food Trust Mission worked directly with and in schools to implement their program.

This video, from ABC, explains the program and highlights its successes: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/obesity-america-school-community-fights-back-9805810 

Likewise, in New York City, successful school nutrition programs have helped students become more educated about healthy food choices. Jorge Collazo, the executive chef for the Department of Education, explains in a New York Times article that the system operates like a restaurant: the children are the “customers.” This attitude helped the system begin improving about seven years ago. According to the article, today schools in New York do not serve fried food, trans fat, or artificial ingredients to students. Also, it is worth noting that, while meals and nutrition in Texas schools are controlled by the Department of Agriculture, they are controlled by the Department of Education in New York. 

Both of these successes show that nutrition standards in public schools can be altered. In Texas, where the childhood obesity rate is 30 percent, addressing current nutritional issues in youth is critical to the future well-being of the state. Studying existing programs in other states where public school meal standards have been altered to provide better nutrition for students can help Texas politicians develop programs to implement change. 

-Kathryn Waggoner

Let's Move Sheds Light on Austin

Increasing obesity rates in the United States in recent years have caused health and nutritional issues, especially those regarding children, to gain additional attention across the nation.

This issue is currently being addressed in the 82^nd Texas Legislature in a series of bills that focus on altering nutritional standards and physical education programs in the Texas public schools.

In the House of Representatives, these bills include:

• HB 127: relating to the types of beverages that may be sold to students on public school campuses; referred to Public Health.

• HB 280: relating to requiring a health credit for high school graduation; referred to Public Education.

• HB 281: relating to physical education credits required for high school graduation; referred to Public Education.

• HB 643: relating to summer nutrition programs in school districts; referred to Agriculture and Livestock committee.

In the Senate, these bills include:

• SB 185: relating to physical activity requirements for students in public schools; refereed to Education.

• SB 225: relating to including in public school campus improvement plans and in local school health advisory council reports to school district boards of trustees certain goals and objectives or information in order to promote improved student health; referred to Education.

As these bills are debated in Austin, examining steps taken by the federal government in these areas is both interesting and relevant.

Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign has set childhood nutrition as a national priority in America. The campaign addresses the challenges that busy American families, including the Obama’s, experience and discusses how those challenges have an affect on individual nutrition. This video outlines some of the goals of the campaign:

In its first year, the campaign focused on the authorization of the Healthy-Hunger Free Kids Act, signed by President Obama in December 2010. This bill reauthorized the Child Nutrition Bill and, according to the Healthy Schools Campaign’s website, makes a “significant move to shape the future of school food.” It calls for several actions including:

• increasing the reimbursements that schools receive by six cents per meal;

• setting improved common-sense nutrition standards for school meals;

• bringing policies that help schools send consistent messages about healthy eating;

• simplifying the process that children who are eligible for free meals go through to receive those meals;

• piloting expansion of farm-to-school programs as well as organic foods.

As explained by the Healthy Schools Campaign, the creation of such federal policy is critical to the implementation of new programs and alterations to existing programs in state public schools. With the support of the federal government, state governments now have the leverage and the funding to promote nutritional and physical education programs that help fight current habits and obesity prevalent amongst American children.

The School Nutrition Association provides an outline of the large role that the federal government has played in the development of school nutritional programs through United States history. In 1962, President Truman passed the National School Lunch Act to provide reimbursement to states for school meals. Until the 1990s the bill focused primarily on school reimbursement and providing meals to low-income students. Nutritional standards were first introduced in 1993 when the USDA published the School Nutrition Diary, outlining nutritional problems with school meals. Following this report, changes focusing on the need to improve nutritional quality have gained attention and continue to be addressed. 

The proposed bills and alterations to the bills in the Texas Legislature are closely related to the current debate over nutrition and also to the national history of the issue. These current and past events help create a better understanding of the importance and relevance of the current debate in Austin.

-Kathryn Waggoner