RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, obesity is considered to be the major health issue of the twenty-first century, with an estimated two-thirds of the adult population in the United States self-reporting being overweight (approximately sixty-five per cent) and almost one-third (obese approximately thirty-one per cent); and

WHEREAS, based upon the body mass index, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than forty-four million Americans were considered obese in 2001, an increase of seventy-four per cent in ten years; and

WHEREAS, the number of overweight children in the United States has doubled in the past thirty years, with similar patterns occurring in Hawaii, and with some communities and populations in Hawaii having childhood obesity rates twice the national average for children age six to eleven years old; and

WHEREAS, obesity in childhood, particularly adolescence, is a predictor for obesity in adulthood, and certain health related behaviors established in youth –- unhealthy eating and inadequate physical activity -– contribute to adult obesity and related health conditions; and

WHEREAS, the two leading causes of obesity in children are a lack of physical activity and poor eating habits; and

WHEREAS, statistics compiled by the United States Department of Agriculture indicate that more than eight per cent of school-aged children are not consuming the recommended daily servings of fruit and vegetables; and

WHEREAS, studies conducted by Tufts University School of Nutrition and others indicate a correlation between children's nutritional intake and their ability to learn; and

WHEREAS, the school setting is a logical place to address the issue of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents; and

WHEREAS, carbonated beverages are the single largest source of refined sugars in the American diet, and the frequent drinking of sweet liquids throughout the day increases a child's risk for dental decay, the most common chronic childhood disease; and

WHEREAS, food and beverages sold on school grounds can often be a significant source of fat, calories, salt, sugar, and cholesterol, which are unhealthy dietary elements and major contributors to poor health and childhood overweight and obesity; and

WHEREAS, the Board of Education approved regulation 6810, which states, "The sale of food in all elementary and secondary schools shall be limited to the School Breakfast Program, School Lunch Program, and approved cafeteria supplementary food items. Schools shall not permit the sale of other foods from the beginning of the school day to the end of the school day except certain beverages through vending machines. Beverage selections from vending machines at schools shall contain primarily healthy beverages as deemed appropriate by the Department of Education. These beverages shall not be sold during meal serving periods"; and

WHEREAS, April 2004, the Board of Education recommended that eighty per cent of beverage selections from each school vending machine be healthy beverages and that the school-community and principal, or both, of each school be allowed to determine the combination of the remaining twenty per cent of beverage selections; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Education is requested to enforce the Board of Education, April 2004 recommendation that eighty per cent of beverages sold from school vending machines be healthy beverages; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to:

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Chairperson of the Board of Education, and the Superintendent of Education.

Report Title:

School Nutrition