Kids' excessive salty snacks are linked to obesity, high blood pressure; new limits on school vending items may help

As new research shows that America's child-obesity epidemic is linked to eating too many salty snacks,  new federal regulations could ensure that vending-machine snacks in Kentucky's schools are healthier and lower in sodium.

Spurred by children eating too much salt and being too fat, "blood pressure in America's kids and teens has gone sky-high," creating a young generation at risk for serious health problems, including heart disease, stroke, reports Brian Alexander of NBC News.

“Kids eat far too much sodium,” the study's co-author, Dr. Stephen Daniels told NBC. “And they aren’t adding it at the table, and their parents aren’t putting it into food; they’re getting it through processed foods.” The research, published Monday in the journal Hypertension, links this rising blood pressure to children's increasing bod- mass index and sodium intake.

The "Smart Snacks in Schools" nutrition standards, announced last month by the Department of Agriculture, require any food sold in public schools to meet calorie, fat, sugar and sodium limits. The changes shouldn't be very significant for Kentucky students because the state already prohibits vending machine sales during the school day. And, a few existing state regulations, like fat content, are tougher than the federal changes and will remain in place, Sue Bartenfield, nutrition program manager for the Kentucky Department of Education, told Stu Johnson of the Kentucky Public Radio bureau in Frankfort. The new federal limits on calories and sodium are tighter, and the federal law will also keep vending machines shut down for a half-hour after school, Bartenfield told Johnson.

New federal rules on vending machines in schools are expected in the next few weeks

With new lunch standards set to kick in by next school year, the Obama administration is looking at its next target in the school food landscape: vending machines. New guidelines are expected to be released in the coming weeks "for foods that children can buy outside the cafeteria," reports Ron Nixon of The New York Times. Kentucky already has some rules in place, may get stronger as a result of the new guidelines. (NYT photo by Kirsten Luce)

Students eat from one-fifth to one-half of their daily diet at schools, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report 20 percent of American children are obese. As of 2007 in Kentucky, more than 37 percent of children were either obese or overweight, a study by the National Conference of State Legislatures shows. The administration wants to ensure that students eat what is good for them and avoid becoming overweight, Nixon reports, but there is strong pushback from the food and beverage industries.

A study by the National Academy of Sciences reports that about $2.3 billion worth of snack food and drinks are sold each year in schools nationwide. Schools have a stake in the fight as well, with candy sold in fundraisers often used to help pay for sports, music and arts programs. In Kentucky, the changeover to water, lowfat milk and fruit juices caused a downturn in revenue from the machines, but in most cases it appears to have rebounded to earlier levels.

The forthcoming guidelines are unknown, but officials predict they will be similar to the changes in the school lunch program, which reduced sugar, salt and fat. Those changes were a compromise after a fight between health advocates and the food industry. Nancy Huehnergarth, executive director of the New York State Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Alliance, said she expects another fight. "I think the food and beverage industry is going to fight tooth and nail over these rules," she said.

In Kentucky, schools are not allowed to sell food that competes with the national school lunch and breakfast programs from the minute students arrive until 30 minutes after the last lunch period. Only water, 100 percent fruit juice, lowfat milk and any beverage that contains no more than 10 grams of sugar per serving are allowed to be sold in school vending machines, as per state mandate. There are no limits as to what foods or drinks that can be sold in fundraisers. (Read more)