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Last Updated: Friday - 09/24/2010

Week of September 29, 2003

There's no nutritious, free gift

Parents, beware of the subliminal price you and your youngsters pay for corporate gifts

By SUZANNE ELSTON

With the new school year well underway, students are getting down to the business of studying, while corporations are getting back to the business of making a profit. Cuts to education funding both in Canada and the U.S. have created a tremendous marketing opportunity for companies.

Corporate sponsorships, brand-name vending machines and other in-school product promotions promise financially strapped schools a share of the profits in return for the opportunity to promote products and create life-long brand loyalty. While these corporate partnerships may provide much needed funding relief in the short-term, the ultimate long-term goal is to improve the corporate bottom line.

Consider Reading Is Fundamental (RIF). Founding in 1966, RIF is the oldest and largest children's and family nonprofit literacy organization in the U.S. Through a national, grassroots network of 400,000 community volunteers, RIF programs last year provided 15 million new, free books and other essential literacy resources to nearly five million at-risk children.

Coca-Cola is a major funder of the RIF program and in 2001, provided a three-year, $18 million grant to RIF. Not surprisingly, the Coca-Cola logo is featured prominently on the RIF website.

These kinds of corporate investments are paying off big time. Soft drink consumption is increasing dramatically, and so are all the relative health risks. The National Soft Drink Association reports that Americans consumed 54 gallons (or approximately 204 litres) of soft drinks, per person, in 1998. This represents 27 per cent of the total U.S. beverage consumption. In Canada, soft drink consumption has more than doubled from 55.1 litres per person in 1972, to 113.3 litres in 2001.

According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, teenage boys and girls drink twice as much soda pop as milk. Twenty years ago, the exact opposite was true.

Replacing milk with pop and other sugary drinks can have a particularly harmful effect on teenage girls.

A 2001 report published by University of Saskatchewan researchers found that girls in their early teens who consume soft drinks instead of milk face a life-long increased risk for fractures and osteoporosis.

The increased consumption of pop is also contributing to the dramatic increase in obesity among children. In 1964, five per cent of children were considered obese.

Students are allowed to eat and drink in class, whenever they want, provided that their snacks consist only of fresh fruits, vegetables and water.

Today, that figure is 20 per cent and rising.

According to a 2001 study from the Harvard School of Public Health, in addition to the 10 teaspoons of sugar contained in a can of pop, an extra soft drink a day increases a child's chance of becoming obese by 60 per cent. The problem is empty calories. A large (730 ml) orange soft drink from McDonald's contains 365 calories. This represents more than 18 per cent of the average daily-recommended caloric intake of 2,000 calories.

Fortunately, concerned parents, schools and other organizations are starting to fight back. On May 13, the Alberta Public Health Association (APHA) passed a resolution to eliminate soft drink promotion in schools. School boards are being informed about the potential risks of exclusive contracts with soft drink companies in promoting food habits that promote obesity.

They are also being encouraged to remove soft drinks from all schools.

In addition, the APHA is encouraging greater provincial support for school boards to allow them to decrease their dependence upon revenues from soft drink sales.

In Ontario, a school principal in Kitchener-Waterloo, has taken a more direct approach. Students are allowed to eat and drink in class, whenever they want, provided that their snacks consist only of fresh fruits, vegetables and water. The program apparently is working. Not only are kids eating healthier food, they are more alert in class and are posing fewer behavioural problems.

When entering into any kind of fundraising agreement, it's critical for educators and parents to recognize that companies are not educational foundations. Regardless of how benign they may appear to be, corporations are accountable to the wealth of their shareholders, not the health of our students.

Recommended websites:

Commercial Alert's website has a wealth of information about corporate marketing to schools, junk food and childhood obesity, including tips on how to create a commercial-free school zone. Go to www.commercialalert.org.

For more information about Reading is Fundamental, visit www.rif.org (Note the prominent placement of the Coca-Cola logo).

For more amazing statistics about soft drink consumption, go to hypertextbook.com/facts/2001/ChristiaanRule.shtml.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest is an all-round excellent site for information about science, health and the environment. Visit www.cspinet.org.

The University of Saskatchewan report, "Soft Drink Consumption Related to Weak Bones in Teenage Girls", is located at www.usask.ca/events/news/articles/20010906-1.html

The Minnesota Dental Association has a cool experiment for kids to find out how pop can effect their teeth. Visit www.mndental.org/classroom/grades_4_6.

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