Requires that food sold to pupils during breakfast and lunch periods at elementary schools be sold only as part of a full meal and items sold during breaks meet certain standards; restricts sale of specified beverages at elementary and middle schools; requires sale of all foods at elementary and middle schools, and at middle and high schools participating in a pilot program, to be approved by designated person; authorize school districts to convene a child nutrition and physical activity advisory committee to develop and recommend a school district policy on nutrition and physical activity; requires DOE to submit evaluation report to 2006 legislature on impact of this Act.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. The legislature finds and declares that childhood obesity has reached epidemic levels in Hawaii and throughout the nation. Recent studies have shown that many of Hawaii's youth are overweight and that adolescent obesity has doubled over the past two decades.

Overweight and obese children are at higher risk for long-term health problems, including cardiovascular disease, stroke, hypertension, high blood pressure, gallbladder disease, Type 2 diabetes, asthma, and certain cancers. The lives of overweight youth are often also affected by discrimination, psychological stress, poor body image, and low self-esteem. Eighty per cent of obese adolescents remain obese as adults.

Health experts agree that one of the most effective ways to prevent these chronic diseases is to establish policies and programs that encourage children and adolescents to develop healthy eating and exercise habits they can maintain throughout their lives. A child who is physically healthy is more likely to be academically motivated, alert, and successful. Healthy eating also plays an important role in learning and cognitive development. Poor diet has been found to adversely influence the ability to learn and to decrease motivation and attentiveness.

The legislature further finds that the school environment plays an influential role in the foods children eat nearly every day. While the United States Department of Agriculture regulates the nutrient content of meals sold under its reimbursable meal program, similar standards do not exist for "competitive foods" that are sold outside of the United States Department of Agriculture meal programs. Competitive foods are often very high in added sugar, sodium, and fat.

The State's support of school food services is inadequate. The department of education monitors schools infrequently and lacks the resources to provide any technical assistance. The State has not increased the state meal subsidy, beyond a cost-of-living adjustment, for a number of years.

In order to generate revenue, many schools sell or allow vendors to sell competitive foods on campus, the most common of which are sodas, pizza, cookies, chips, and burritos. Allowing the sale of competitive foods on campus contributes to the fact that: (1) carbonated drinks are the single biggest source of refined sugars in the American diet, with approximately seventy per cent of children in the United States who are two to eleven years of age exceeding current dietary recommendations for intakes of total and saturated fat; and (2) only       per cent of Hawaii's children meet the goal of eating five servings of fruits and vegetables per day.

The purpose of this Act is to encourage children and adolescents to develop healthy eating and exercise habits that will foster wellness throughout their lives.

SECTION 2. This Act shall be known as the Pupil Nutrition, Health, and Achievement Act of 2003.

SECTION 3. For the purposes of this Act:

"Elementary school" means a public school that maintains any grade from kindergarten to grade 6, inclusive, but no grade higher than grade 6.

"Full meal" means any combination of food items that meet a United States Department of Agriculture-approved meal pattern.

"High school" means any public school maintaining grades 10 to 12.

"Middle school" or "intermediate school" means any public school that maintains grades 7 and 8, but no grade higher than grade 9.

SECTION 4. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, this Act shall control over contrary provisions relating to the sale of food items to public school pupils.

SECTION 5. (a) The reimbursement a school receives for free and reduced price meals sold or served to pupils in elementary or middle schools shall be increased to        cents.

(b) Each elementary and middle school shall receive a reimbursement of       cents for meals sold at full price.

(c) To qualify for the increased reimbursement for free and reduced price meals and for the reimbursement for meals sold at full price, a school shall follow the United States Department of Agriculture's Enhanced Food Based Meal Pattern, Nutrient Standard Meal Planning, or the Traditional Meal Pattern.

(d) The reimbursement rates set forth in this section shall be adjusted annually for increases in the cost of living.

SECTION 6. (a) At elementary and middle schools, and in those schools participating in the pilot program created pursuant to section 10, the sale of all foods on school grounds shall be approved for compliance with the nutrition standards in this section by the person or persons responsible for implementing these provisions as designated by the department of education.

(c) In middle schools, from one-half hour before the start of the school day until after the end of the last lunch period, no carbonated beverage shall be sold to pupils.

(d) At middle schools, vending machines that contain beverage items that do not meet the requirements in this section shall remain locked or be rendered inoperable until after the end of the last lunch period.

(e) As part of a school fundraising event, an elementary school may permit the sale of food items that do not comply with subsections (a) to (f) in any of the following circumstances:

(f) Middle schools may elect to apply for participation in the pilot program pursuant to section 10.

SECTION 7. By January 1, 2004, every public school may post a summary of nutrition and physical activity laws and rules, and shall post the school district's nutrition and physical activity policies, in public view within all school cafeterias or other central eating areas. The department of education shall develop the summary of the state laws and rules.

SECTION 8. (a) A departmental school district maintaining at least one elementary, middle school, or high school that is participating in the pilot program pursuant to section 10 may convene a child nutrition and physical activity advisory committee that shall develop and recommend to the governing board of the school district for its adoption, school district policies on nutrition and physical activity. The committee shall include school district board members, school administrators, food service directors, food service staff, staff, parents, pupils, physical and health education teachers, dietitians, health care professionals, and interested community members. In developing the policy, the committee shall hold at least one public hearing.

(b) The policies shall address issues and goals, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(c) A departmental school district maintaining at least one elementary or middle school may apply to the department of education for a grant to offset the costs of developing and adopting policies pursuant to this section. The grants shall be one-time grants and shall be available to applicant school districts by January 1, 2004.

(d) A participating departmental school district shall receive a grant of no less than $          and no more than $         , depending upon the size of the school district, for the purpose of offsetting the costs of developing the school district nutrition and physical activity policies.

SECTION 9. The department of education shall provide technical support and assistance to departmental school districts in implementing section 8. The technical support and assistance shall include highlighting model nutrition programs, disseminating information to assist in the financial management of the food service programs, identifying fundraising mechanisms for school food services programs and for pupil activities that encourage healthy eating habits among pupils, and providing information regarding the current best practices in school child nutrition programs.

SECTION 10. The department of education shall establish a three-year pilot program in which a total of not less than ten high schools, middle schools, or any combination thereof, voluntarily adopt the provisions of sections 6 and 7. The pilot program shall commence in the fall of the 2003-2004 school year. Participating departmental school districts will be eligible to receive a grant pursuant to section 8. Districts will be eligible for an increased reimbursement rate for free and reduced price meals served at participating high schools as set forth in section 5.

SECTION 11. A departmental school district participating in the pilot program shall comply with the following requirements:

(b) No food item shall be sold to pupils from one-half hour before the start of the school day until one-half hour after the end of the school day unless it does not exceed twelve ounces per serving and it meets all of the standards set forth in section 6(b)(2).

(c) Entree items and side dish serving sizes shall be no larger than the portions of those foods served as part of the federal school meal program.

(d) Fruit and nonfried vegetables shall be offered for sale at any location where food is sold.

SECTION 12. (a) The superintendent of education shall annually randomly select not less than ten per cent of the schools of the state to report compliance with this Act as set forth in subsection (b). Although the selection process shall be essentially random, the process shall be weighted in such a manner so as to ensure that the pilot program contains participants that, as a group, are representative of the geographic diversity of the State. The group selected shall be sufficient to provide a statistically random and accurate sampling of the State as a whole.

(b) Each school selected pursuant to subsection (a) shall report to the superintendent of education in the coordinated compliance review regarding the extent to which it has complied with this Act.

(c) For any departmental school district that the superintendent of education finds is not in compliance with the mandatory provisions of this Act, the superintendent of education shall issue a notice of noncompliance. The noncomplying school district shall adopt, and provide to the superintendent of education, a corrective plan. The corrective plan shall set forth the actions to be taken by the school district in order to ensure that the school district will be in full compliance within one year from the issuance of the noncompliance notification.

SECTION 13. The department of education, with advice from the child nutrition and physical activity advisory council, shall design and implement a financial incentive grant program to help and encourage schools to implement the school district policies and meet the goals described in section 8(b).

SECTION 14. The department of education shall monitor the implementation of this Act, and shall provide interim reports to the legislature on its progress with the requirements of this Act no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular sessions of 2004 and 2005, and shall submit a final report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2006 regular session, including the department's evaluation of the following:

SECTION 15. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $        , or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2003-2004, and the same sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2004-2005, for the purposes of this Act, including amounts necessary to provide technical support and assistance to the school districts.

The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 16. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2003.