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American Morning

House Call: Best and Worst Snacks

Aired September 15, 2003 - 09:23   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The food police have some advice for parents and school officials on improving the nutritional value of snacks sold in school.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta back with more on what's being called a school food tool kit. Nice title.

Sanjay, good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Yes, you know, we talk about obesity a lot, but I don't think we can talk about it enough, especially when it comes to kids. Young children, the rates of obesity have doubled over the last couple of decades. For adolescents, it's tripled. Now parents can control a lot of the food that goes into their kids at the home, but the schools, that becomes a much more difficult thing for parents. So therefore, the school food's tool kit, as you mentioned. The Center for Science and the Public Interest is going to have a press conference today announcing this particular thing.

Not a lot of huge surprises, but let's take a look at some of the recommendations that's going to come out of this particular press conference. They want to limit the sale of sugary soft drinks in the schools. They want to recommend only low or nonfat milk, and have parents encourage parents to pack healthy lunches. They also want to have more whole grains, fruits and vegetables in the schools, while no name brand fast foods in the cafeteria. That's sort of recently become a problem as well. Chains like McDonald's, Burger King actually opening up some of these restaurants in the schools.

Now as far as the drinks go, the food-based drinks, no added sweeteners, waters and seltzers, low or fat free milk as far as the drinks go as well, specifically, and what they're recommending to parents as well. If you're looking at a child's overall diet, if you're looking at the makeup of what the carbohydrates and fats and all those sorts of thinks are, you can take a look at the list of what they recommend there, as well. With regards to the fat, 30 percent or less calories from fat. Saturated transfat content less than 10 percent, 35 percent or less weight from sugars.

Bill, these are not new recommendations. In fact, they're recommendations that have been around for some time now, but obviously the message just isn't getting through, so the Center for Science and Public Interest is going to have this press conference. Give the schools an actual kit to try and get these recommendations enforced, to try and curb this obesity problem -- Bill. HEMMER: Are they willing to point the finger of blame at the schools for what they offer?

GUPTA: Most would say, including the CSPI, the Center for Science in Public Interest, the schools themselves are doing an OK job. Here's the problem, the problem is that more and more, a lot of students are actually leaving the schools and going off campus and actually getting their lunches or other meals at fast food restaurants close to the school. That is a lot of the -- part of this proposal is that the schools actually become closed campuses, and that doesn't happen anymore.

Also vending machines a huge problem. It's actually sort of interesting. They went through all these specific products and actually listed particular products that should be taken out of vending machines, actually replacing potato chips with baked potato chips, replacing some of the sugary soft drinks with seltzer waters, things like that. School's not going to be as much fun as when you and I went, but I think it's probably a good thing overall for the obesity epidemic.

O'BRIEN: And you know, we talked about the overweight issue in this country and how it impacts so many thousands, if not millions of people, such a long list, a variety of ailments, lasting for a lifetime. A good topic -- Sanjay?

GUPTA: Yes, I was just going to say, just about every chronic illness that you can think of linked to obesity. And I think what's frightening a lot of people, Bill, is that epidemic starting younger and younger. Kids buying these big chocolate bars in schools. That's a problem. It's got to stop.

HEMMER: We will see if it makes a difference today, and whether or not parents and kids in schools listen to the advice.

Thank you, Sanjay. Good to see you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired September 15, 2003 - 09:23   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The food police have some advice for parents and school officials on improving the nutritional value of snacks sold in school.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta back with more on what's being called a school food tool kit. Nice title.

Sanjay, good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Yes, you know, we talk about obesity a lot, but I don't think we can talk about it enough, especially when it comes to kids. Young children, the rates of obesity have doubled over the last couple of decades. For adolescents, it's tripled. Now parents can control a lot of the food that goes into their kids at the home, but the schools, that becomes a much more difficult thing for parents. So therefore, the school food's tool kit, as you mentioned. The Center for Science and the Public Interest is going to have a press conference today announcing this particular thing.

Not a lot of huge surprises, but let's take a look at some of the recommendations that's going to come out of this particular press conference. They want to limit the sale of sugary soft drinks in the schools. They want to recommend only low or nonfat milk, and have parents encourage parents to pack healthy lunches. They also want to have more whole grains, fruits and vegetables in the schools, while no name brand fast foods in the cafeteria. That's sort of recently become a problem as well. Chains like McDonald's, Burger King actually opening up some of these restaurants in the schools.

Now as far as the drinks go, the food-based drinks, no added sweeteners, waters and seltzers, low or fat free milk as far as the drinks go as well, specifically, and what they're recommending to parents as well. If you're looking at a child's overall diet, if you're looking at the makeup of what the carbohydrates and fats and all those sorts of thinks are, you can take a look at the list of what they recommend there, as well. With regards to the fat, 30 percent or less calories from fat. Saturated transfat content less than 10 percent, 35 percent or less weight from sugars.

Bill, these are not new recommendations. In fact, they're recommendations that have been around for some time now, but obviously the message just isn't getting through, so the Center for Science and Public Interest is going to have this press conference. Give the schools an actual kit to try and get these recommendations enforced, to try and curb this obesity problem -- Bill. HEMMER: Are they willing to point the finger of blame at the schools for what they offer?

GUPTA: Most would say, including the CSPI, the Center for Science in Public Interest, the schools themselves are doing an OK job. Here's the problem, the problem is that more and more, a lot of students are actually leaving the schools and going off campus and actually getting their lunches or other meals at fast food restaurants close to the school. That is a lot of the -- part of this proposal is that the schools actually become closed campuses, and that doesn't happen anymore.

Also vending machines a huge problem. It's actually sort of interesting. They went through all these specific products and actually listed particular products that should be taken out of vending machines, actually replacing potato chips with baked potato chips, replacing some of the sugary soft drinks with seltzer waters, things like that. School's not going to be as much fun as when you and I went, but I think it's probably a good thing overall for the obesity epidemic.

O'BRIEN: And you know, we talked about the overweight issue in this country and how it impacts so many thousands, if not millions of people, such a long list, a variety of ailments, lasting for a lifetime. A good topic -- Sanjay?

GUPTA: Yes, I was just going to say, just about every chronic illness that you can think of linked to obesity. And I think what's frightening a lot of people, Bill, is that epidemic starting younger and younger. Kids buying these big chocolate bars in schools. That's a problem. It's got to stop.

HEMMER: We will see if it makes a difference today, and whether or not parents and kids in schools listen to the advice.

Thank you, Sanjay. Good to see you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com