High-Calorie Drinks Decrease Dramatically in U.S. Schools
March 18, 2010
High-Calorie Drinks Decrease Dramatically in U.S. Schools
Three years after the adoption of beverage guidelines for schools negotiated by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and major producers of soft drinks, the presence of high calorie drinks in schools has decreased, according to a new report on the impact of a 2006 agreement that sought to create a healthier school environment by reducing the number of beverage calories available to children during the school day. 

The final report on the impact of the Alliance School Beverage Guidelines shows that since the start of the 2004-05 school year:

-- the number of beverage calories shipped to schools has dropped by 88 percent;

-- the overall volume of full-calorie carbonated soft drinks shipped to schools has dropped by 95 percent; and

-- nearly 99 percent of the public and private schools and school systems measured have come into compliance with the agreement.  The impact of the agreement, signed by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, American Beverage Association, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Dr Pepper Snapple Group (formerly Cadbury Schweppes), has been assessed annually by Keybridge Research LLC. 

These results are encouraging. But more remains to be done to achieve our goal of reversing the childhood obesity epidemic by 2015. More than 23 million children and adolescents in the United States—nearly one in three young people—are either obese or overweight. Today, children drink and eat an estimated 35 percent to 50 percent of their daily calories during school hours.