Another alarming statistic about the kids of Santa Cruz: according to the Santa Cruz County Community Assessment Project, about one in five kids between the ages of 4 and 20 is overweight.
Another alarming statistic about the kids of Santa Cruz: according to the Santa Cruz County Community Assessment Project, about one in five kids between the ages of 4 and 20 is overweight. While this is slightly better than the state average, the problem lies with kids aged four and younger: in Santa Cruz County one in six of these children is overweight.
Since most of Santa Cruz’s 38,000 students eat a school lunch every day, Representative Sam Farr (D-Carmel) is hoping to enact legislation that would bring salad bars to schools, instead of the high sodium, high-fat dishes that students generally receive. His Children’s Fruit and Vegetable Act would require the USDA to spend more money on fruits and vegetables that make their way to school lunches by as much as 25 percent by 2014. The bill also calls for increased funding for salad bars.
But the fight against obesity shouldn’t stop there. Because of recent budget cuts, school athletic programs are faced with serious funding issues, which means that fewer students will have a chance to sweat off those extra pounds on the playing field. And of course, one should really ask whether having students sell M&Ms to support their team resolves the obesity crisis or contributes to it.
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