BOE approves soda limits

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Education Writer

Students may soon have their soft-drink choices limited at vending machines in Hawai'i's public schools.

The state Board of Education voted last night for a new policy that school vending machines should contain primarily healthy drinks such as water, milk and fruit juices to help reduce obesity, a significant concern among health experts in Hawai'i and across the nation.

State schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto and her staff will determine the specific regulations, which may require that as much as 80 percent of drink selections be healthy. State school board members had considered restricting the machines to only healthy drinks.

Several students and administrators told the school board that soft-drink sales help generate thousands of dollars for school activities.

Cliff Fukuda, the student activities coordinator at Radford High School, said a partnership with Pepsi helped the school raise money to buy school planners for students and a new marquee.

Fukuda joked that he is overweight because he needs more exercise and less fried food.

"It is not because of the two cans of Pepsi I drink a week," he said.

Brittiany Broadwater, a Radford cheerleader, said students who want to drink soda will find a way no matter what is sold in school vending machines.

"It's not like we're being denied our healthy alternatives," Broadwater said.

Dean Okamoto, the director of food service for The Pepsi Bottling Group in Hawai'i, said Pepsi offers schools balanced drink choices and added that schools should have the right to determine what is sold.

"The overwhelming consensus has been that such decisions are best made by parents, teachers and school administrators for their schools," he said.

While acknowledging that childhood obesity is a national problem, Darryl Wong of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Hawaii said that favorite foods or drinks, like soda, can be part of a balanced diet.

But healthcare professionals, including representatives from the state Department of Health and insurer HMSA, had supported a total restriction on soda from school vending machines. Several noted that people develop lifestyle habits while they're young that they could follow for the rest of their lives.

Chiyome Leinaala Fukino, the state's director of health, wrote to the board that vending machines are an "environmental factor that may contribute to childhood obesity and poor nutrition."

Carol Gabbard, a BOE member, said she supported the goal of the new policy but would have preferred a total restriction.

"I don't think we should raise funds at the expense of kids' health," she said.

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.