110833841
To the Editor:
Rich DiGiacomo is very worried that the rights of parents to educate their children in proper eating habits is being undermined by new school feeding guidelines issued by the USDA (“Junk food for thought,” Feb. 27). Even though beverage companies Coke and Pepsi, for example, generally limit their school vending machines to serving juice and water, Rich is concerned that their widespread advertisements for sugar-sweetened sodas will be denied by a “socialist” ruling. How dare the USDA interfere with the free marketing of sugary, less-than-nutritious drinks to school children? And it does not matter to him that, under the new rules, school districts will have leeway on how and when to limit this advertising.
The Journal of the American Medical Association has been tracking obesity rates in children since 2003. Only recently has the JAMA noted a decrease in obesity for children ages 2 to 5 — from 13.9 percent to 8.4 percent — thanks in part to the efforts by the federal government under the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act to encourage healthier eating and exercise habits for growing children.
I agree with Rich that teaching children healthy eating habits starts in the home, but it helps not to confuse them with mixed messages in the school cafeteria or on the gymnasium scoreboard.
Gloria C. Endres
South Philadelphia
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