No more fries with that for Quebec students

Monday, January 7, 2008
CBC News

Young Quebecers won't be able to enjoy a side of fries and Coke for lunch anymore as the first phase of a strict junk food policy for schools came into effect Monday.

Deep fryers and soft drinks are now banned from high school cafeterias, and lunches must contain at least one vegetable under Quebec's new school food regulations the government hopes will encourage healthier eating habits.

The rules also ban soft drinks, including diet products and sugary beverages, from high school grounds.

Eliminating tempting foods is an excellent way to reduce how much of it children and teenagers actually eat — but promoting healthy habits is a complex challenge, said Lori Nikkel, chair of the Canadian Council for Student Nutrition. [and FoodShare staff person-ed.]

"That's a great first step," she told CBC News. "Half of eating is about the smell. It's very sensory. I don't think half the students would necessarily pick french fries if they hadn't smelled it first in the hallway," she told CBC News.

Policy makers should be careful about forbidding tempting junk foods, which increases their appeal among the young, Nikkel warned.

"I don't really like the whole 'get rid of things' aspect," she said, because it doesn't always foster positive attitudes toward healthy foods.

The best healthy eating programs for schools are student-driven, which involve children and teenagers in menu-planning and budgeting, Nikkel said.

But parents also have a huge role to play in setting a good example about healthy foods, as most children bring their lunch to school, she said.

Several school boards across Quebec introduced healthy eating guidelines prior to the province's policy.

The Quebec government has already earmarked $16 million for programs that will help schools develop strategies to encourage exercise and healthy food.

Canada is the world's only industrialized country without national student nutrition guidelines, despite a growing childhood obesity epidemic experts say is linked to eating habits and sedentary lifestyles.

But several jurisdictions have imposed limits on candy bars, pop and chips.

The Nova Scotia government has also introduced a nutrition policy to curb child obesity rates. The policy, which took effect this January, eliminates deep fryers, doughnuts, chips, soft drinks and other junk foods from schools.

In December, Ontario introduced legislation to ban trans-fats from school cafeterias.

In Manitoba, some school divisions have eliminated junk food from their premises, and the province pledged in its last throne speech to ban the sale of foods containing trans fats.

Edmonton's public school board voted last November to ban the sale of junk food in all schools.