Sodas expelled from Colorado schools

Kids in need of a quick sugar-and-caffeine boost between classes will be out of luck. Weight-conscious teens thirsty for a diet pop will have to switch to water or sports drinks.

That’s because the state Board of Education Wednesday approved rules that will ban all soda, diet or sugary, from Colorado schools. The rules, which set minimum standards for local school boards to meet, will be in effect for most school districts starting with the 2009-10 school year.

The rules set different beverage and portion size restrictions for elementary, middle and high schools. Water, low- or non-fat milk, fruit juices and sports drinks will be the basic beverage menu for high schoolers. The rules don’t apply to after-school events, so you can still get a Coke (or Pepsi, depending on which soda giant has a district’s contract) at the football game.

Although the board approved the rules unanimously, some members weren’t happy about it, saying such decisions should be left to local boards. But, a 2008 state law pretty much dictated that the board couldn’t approve anything less stringent than what the law outlined. Instead, the board made the rules tougher by banning diet pop, which the law would have allowed.

Despite that touch of controversy, the rules are just part of a national trend. The beverage industry, pressured by medical groups and former President Bill Clinton, among others, is voluntarily moving toward providing healthier drinks to schools.

And, many local districts already have imposed their own healthy beverage rules.

Concerns about rising obesity and diabetes rates are driving the bans, although some research suggests that school soda bans don’t reduce kids’ overall consumption of the fizzy stuff.

Want to learn more? Check this story, which has links to the law and new rules.

By the way, chips and candy bars may be on the chopping block next. Statehouse gossip has it that a bill proposing similar restrictions on school snacks will be introduced during the 2007 legislature session, which opens Jan. 7.