Parents want last say on soda sold in schools

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Education Writer

Many parents want to see more juices and sports drinks in public schools, but some say the decision about whether children can drink soda at all should be up to parents, not the school board.

"I don't mind if they drink diet soda," she said. Sports drinks are also OK, she added.

But Ho thinks parents — not the school board — should make the decision about whether their children buy soft drinks at school. "The parents give them the money they use to buy soda," she said. "The parents should give them permission."

The state Board of Education voted last Thursday to limit school beverage sales to primarily healthy choices such as water, milk and fruit juices. The Department of Education will determine the regulations, which may require schools to make 80 percent of offerings healthy ones.

The board decision follows the lead of other school districts across the country, notably in Texas, Arkansas and the cities of Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia.

Nearly all public intermediate and high schools in the state have soda machines, according to Charles Kagawa, a business administrator for the DOE. Individual schools make the decisions about which drinks are sold, but he said he has seen mostly soda for sale, with one required slot for water.

Elementary schools are not allowed to have soda machines, except in the teacher's lounge, but under the new rule they may be allowed to have vending machines with only healthy choices.

While many parents said they had no problem with campus soda machines, Loretta Pogia, a Wai'anae mother of nine children, would have preferred a ban.

She said she doesn't think students should be allowed to bring soda to school or on field trips, either. Her own kids drink juice, she said.

She thinks kids who drink soda are taking in too much sugar and using soft drinks as a meal replacement. "All these kids don't eat, and they drink soda instead of (eating) food," she said.

Many health professionals agree with Pogia. Sugared sodas can lead to obesity and dental problems, and all sodas lead to calcium deficiencies when children choose them over milk.

"There is absolutely nothing in soda that is good for you," said Barbara Frankowski, chairwoman of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on School Health. "The money is good for the schools, but the soda is not good for the kids."

The academy is sensitive to the fact that some schools rely on the income from soda sales for supplies and activities, a situation that Frankowski called pathetic. "We're the richest nation in the world, and this is how we have to raise money to educate our children, who we say are our most important resource?" she said.

If schools do not eliminate soft drink sales entirely, Frankowski said there are other ways to limit consumption, such as providing healthy alternatives. She said some schools turn the soda machines off during lunch, or make them available only after school.

Only one in a group of Kalani High students at Ala Moana Center interviewed last week was distressed by the possibility of losing soda on campus.

Shawn Lee, a freshman at Kalani, doesn't use the soda machine on campus much, but he doesn't want it removed. "I'm totally against it," he said, referring to the BOE action. "I like soda."

His classmate, Andy Matsuzaki, said he doesn't see many soda machines on campus and wouldn't mind if they were removed. However, he said, "If they do, they should have more water fountains — with cold water."

Their friend Kevin Chan said, "It doesn't really matter. I don't drink soda."

For Chan, it's a cost issue. "I can drink water for free," he said.

Michelle Carriaga, a Pearl City mother of three, drinks soda herself and doesn't mind if her 13-year-old son buys soda at school. Even if she did mind, she doubts she could stop him. "If he has money on him, he wants to have a soda," she said. "If he doesn't buy it from Highlands (Intermediate School) he's going to stop at 7-Eleven on his way home."

At home, she encourages her children to drink water, but allows her children to drink soda, as well. "I don't limit the intake," she said.

Richard Batoon, whose son attends Lana'i High, said, "When we were young, we never had soda in the school."

He said he doesn't really care if his son Thad, 15, drinks soda, as long as he doesn't drink it in class.

Thad said students can buy soda only after school, but he buys a Pepsi only about once every two weeks or so because of the cost.

If the machines were stocked with milk, juice and water, he would use the machines even less, he said.

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8014.