KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The First Lady’s made it her mission to change school meal plans to make them healthier and to get kids outside and active, but she’s often had critics for her efforts.
One YouTube video criticized that school lunches weren’t filling enough. Some schools even dropped the First Lady’s standards. Michelle Obama says in school districts like Dallas and Orlando, however, more students are actually participating in the school lunch program.
Now she says she wants to ban unhealthy foods from being marketed in schools. For example, a Coca-Cola scoreboard may be slowly phased out as will the front of a vending machine that advertises Coke.
Instead a water company, for example, may be advertised. One local nutrition expert said restricting ads for unhealthy foods and drinks could help the childhood obesity problem.
“Could it help? It’s possible, I think it’s worth a shot, but I don’t think it would hurt to take it out at all,” said Crystal Futrell from K-State’s Research and Extension Office.
While data isn’t available to show how the Let’s Move program has affected children, a CDC study published last year showed a small decline over the past 10 years in the obesity rate of preschoolers coming from low-income families.
