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Ed Andrieski / AP
Maria Salas prepares salads for lunch in the kitchen at Kepner Middle School in Denver on Wednesday,
Colorado lawmakers are considering whether to require school districts to do away with margarine, vegetable shortening and other trans fats in what would be the nation’s toughest ban on unhealthy fats in school foods.
The proposal comes as federal authorities are already taking steps to minimize the amount of trans fat in schools as part of an overall plan to improve the health and nutrition of school lunches. Health experts have long warned that the consumption of trans fat, also known as partially hydrogenated oil, increases the risk of coronary heart disease. The American Heart Association, for example, recommends limiting the intake of trans fat to no more than 2 grams per day, about the amount found naturally in milk and meat.
“This would put Colorado one step of what’s going to happen,” said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “The USDA is going to do this nationally.”
But sponsors of the bill in Colorado say they don’t want to wait. The state, despite its reputation for being one of the healthiest in the nation, has one of the higher rates of childhood obesity, with 14.2 percent of children and adolescents considered obese.
“We’re trying to address that,” said state Rep. Tom Massey, R-Poncha Springs.
Many school districts are already limiting the amount of trans fat in their school lunches by baking instead of frying potatoes or serving non-breaded meat products and increasing the amount of vegetables and whole grains on the menu.
But Colorado’s ban would go one step further than other states by applying the law to breakfasts and after-school snacks served in schools. California, for example, bans trans fats during the school day but not during after-school events. Delaware also has a ban, but it doesn’t apply to school breakfasts or snacks.
State Sen. Lucia Guzman, D-Denver, said she was glad to hear that the federal government was taking steps to remove trans fat from school lunches but that a new state law would protect the health of Colorado youngsters even sooner, particularly since many children eat breakfast and lunch at school, and then go to district-sponsored programs at the end of the school day where they are served a snack.
“They’re eating more of their meals in a school setting than they are at home,” she said.
Neither Guzman nor Massey say they’ve seen any organized opposition to the proposal so far, but the track record for such legislation is not encouraging. Six other states last year considered but did not approve school trans fat bans, according to a recent report by the Associated Press, citing the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Regardless of what happens this spring in Colorado, school districts across the country should anticipate major changes in the school lunch program this fall under new rules expected soon from the USDA. The result will be twice as many fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, all low-fat milk and less salt on the menu.
“Under the new standard, school meals will get much better,” Wootan said.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
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Good, its about time we stop turning kids into fatties by taking trans fat off the tables....
I'm sure were going to hear some kinda "Waaa i don't want the government telling me what to eat"
well... bring your own damn trans fat.
It's not the trans fat that makes them fat. It's how much they eat & how little they exercise. If you can't handle raising a child then don't have them.
Trans fat is REALLY bad stuff. This doesn't have anything to do with being able to raise a child or children, it's about being conscience about what they're eating and not polluting their bodies with these harmful chemicals.
School District 11 in Colorado springs did this 4 years ago. Notice the difference? It is local and state governments deciding what the best course of action is for them not the federal government cramming it down everyone's throat.
as long as you are feeding them monsanto corn soy canola etc they are not going to be healthy
I have always admired the state of Colorado for being one of the healthiest state in the country.
Now if we could have the same thing down here in Texas where we are still cooking in Diesel, that would be another thing....
Kids in Texas still eating foods made out of hydrogenated oil. Kids here so big, my 13 year old is already taller and bigger than me .... and I am 6"3'...not a bad thing but scary...I hope it aint the oil
Mire, eat what you want and let the rest of us make our own decision.
It also doesn't help kids of any age when schools cut back on physical education and forbidding them to play tag and Red Rover. Kids need to run and jump to burn off those calories, regardless of what kind they are. Great idea to cut the trans fats. More school districts should do it.
1. Does this mean they'll have to ban all vegetable oils since they all degrade to trans fats much more readily than animal fats?
2. What about sugar, that's got to be causing as many if not more issues with weight than trans fat?
3. It's not as simple as calories in vs calories out. If you exercise more then you eat more to compensate. It's the processed food that's the problem and school kids just aren't getting enough good quality food.
And the reason 6 states considered but did not implement the trans fat ban? COST! We WANT to keep school lunches cheap, which requires cheaper ingredients, etc. Fresh produce every day is hard to budget for, and particularly annoying when you have to throw half of it out because kids aren't eating it. Ask Jamie Oliver how well that went over.
Yeah keep going after the food and keep cutting recess and gym... Crisco was introduced to the public in 1911, it took us 100 years for our kids and adults to develop a weight problem from it? I think not. Of course it's not good for you, there aren't any cooking oils that are absolutely wonderful for you. Some claim it but years later it will be found out to be a lie. It will cost the schools more money to implement trans-fat free lunches when they would have done better to include a gym class every day. It's always the food they keep going after, not the fact that kids can't play outside anymore without adult supervision until they're practically grown thanks to child molesters.
well if you so like this then what if this was done when you went to school idiot.
It sure can't hurt! I would like to see this implemented in more schools across the country. It's amazing (and disgusting!) how much trans fats are in pre-packaged foods like those served in our schools. Many kids don't have a ton of options at lunch other than what's in front of them, so make what's in front of them healthy!
@cs1701a, Many schools have servers to give the food to the children which ensures a correct portion. The problem in childhood obesity lies in the lack of education of food (i.e. I ate SO healthy today! A salad-with croutons and cheese and ranch. That's more calories than a cheeseburger in some cases!) and the lack of availability of nutritious food like in these schools. Even if it did come down to JUST the parenting being the problem, why not serve out kids more nutritious food when we can if the parents aren't doing it?
Hell lucky for me I graduated from High school back in the mid 1990. If I was in school now days I would really be ****.
Sorry to say even in my mid 30's, I need lots of Fat in my food. I am only 6'00" and weight 160 pounds The reason is that I have a very high metabolism and without fat foods. I get really sick to the point that my body starts to shake and I can stand up and I get really tired. The reason is my body ran out of things to burn for energy. So for me and people who are just like me we need the extra Fat. Candy, chips, sugary items and any Fat food we can get our hands on too.
So my question to MireVo3 What about the kids who are just like me who need the extra fat to keep going throughout the school day. **** us right. Don't want kids like me growing up to be fat even though I can sit on a couch all day long pigging out on soda, chips, candy and tons of other fat foods, yet not gain a ****ing pound. If I don't eat all that junk/Fat foods I will loses weight. So kids like me are SOL right.
There are foods high in fat that do not contain trans fat. Trans fats are nasty.
This is good news...Nice job Colorado...great place also to teach the youngins about healthy eating.....
Thanks "Sylvia Wood", msnbc.com.....for this article...
please! psmnbc bias media! what michelle's about to come out with another
one of her eating programs or book on how to feed and raise kids like liberals?
Parents are responsible for their kids not the school! bring your own lunch like i did
or you get what they serve! stop eating at mcdonald's and fast food every day and
take out coke and snack machines! they didn't have em when i was in school!!!
Bet if you were kids of today you wouldn't think this was so great.
The problem is not what schools serve but with the amount of exercise kids get these days. When I was a child we played before school, at recess, had a gym period twice a week, and after school we played some more. Som of us even had a job mowing lawns or a paper route. Today kids watch TV or play video games while munching on a bag of chips and a soda. With the reduction in recess times and some gym classes disapearing more and more, what did you expect would happen to childrens weight? I have 7 children and not one is overweight, they play outside and inside and our oldest (15) just got his first job, shoveling neighbors driveways and sidewalks.
its everything, not just the meals. But really, your diet is 80% of it, and kids dont really get to choose in their meal lines- given the choice between a really bad salad and fries n pizza, they will choose pizza. then get sluggish and tired and not be able to be active, sit in front of the computer all day and doze off. its all connected. Yes, parents should give the kids good stuff in the brown bags, but for the alternative it would be nice to have real food instead of the processed crap they serve in a school caf.
its everything, not just the meals. But really, your diet is 80% of it, and kids dont really get to choose in their meal lines- given the choice between a really bad salad and fries n pizza, they will choose pizza. then get sluggish and tired and not be able to be active, sit in front of the computer all day and doze off. its all connected. Yes, parents should give the kids good stuff in the brown bags, but for the alternative it would be nice to have real food instead of the processed crap they serve in a school caf.
Pizza is now a vegetable, thanks to Congress
Companys want products with the shelf life of a Twinkie. They'll gum up processed food with anything that will increase profits and don't kill you in one meal. SALT, FAT, SUGAR and MSG.
should be added to the things the ATF & E regulates. call it the ATFFSSME. They are killing peoole more than guns.
Don't see a problem with it. After all salt, fat, sugar, alcohol, and caffeine are the 5 basic food groups.
Opps.. forgot caffeine !
msg is in the vast majority of processed food now, it kills brain cells, so maybe not so good for developing brains, or anyone else
I'm 65 smoke drink to much at 5-10 155 I'm still in good health,I eat 2-3 pounds of bacon each week and fry with lard. I haven't been in a fastfood joint in 20yrs. There is no majic pill eat less and exercise more forget all the BS about forcing people to eat what you like. I have read several articles about schools healthy(?) food and that many kids are not eating it. I know that 50 yrs ago if the school system tried to feed this to me I wouldn't have ate it. Let's forget the majic pill and teach people to eat less and exercise more.
"I'm from the government and I'm here to help you."
Well if you think people, particularly kids, are going to help themselves then you are living in a fantasy world, my friend. This law is pure common sense, in my medical degree opinion.
I love the cartoon episode of American Dad where the town outlaws transfat. Stan is sitting at the table and takes a bite and remarks the food tastes like s**t. When told it was cause they didn't have any transfat to cook with,his comment was something to the effect, "You mean that's what transfat is?". Course then he drives outta town to buy a large quantity of transfat. Gotta agree, everything in moderation would help more than a single issue, cause removing transfat by itself may help, but it won't solve the obesity problem.
Good. And maybe this will make it past the Pizza Lobby (does Newt the lying lobbyist work for them?).
Ed, why do some people always need the goverment to make choices for them.
Well ██ ████████ ██████ ██████████ ██ ████ ██ ████ ██████████ ██. ███ ███ This comment has been found in violation of H.R. 3261, S.O.P.A and has been removed.
I agree with the transfat ban for meals served by the schools and in vending machines on campus,
but there is a lot more to eating healthy than just banning transfats. It's a good start.
I don't agree with part of the proposal that also bans transfats at school for other things, like afterschool fundraisers. No more bake sales? I know it's a small thing to argue about, but many school programs rely on fundraisers like bake sales to come up with much needed money.
those bakes sales are illegal because you CAN"T SELL FOOD due to Health Dept Laws !!! Everything is illegal! if not now, it soon will be!
SHARING AN INTERESTING ARTICLE
http://www.wgbh.org/News/Articles/2012/1/17/Obesity_Epidemic_May_Have_Peaked_In_US.cfm
Why don't they BAN ALL FOOD???!!! iT'S ALL grown with herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides, and dna-genetically altered...it's all sickening stuff, stuff in tin cans, mecury in the fish, corporate grown and processed.
where's it going to end, with Elite Rulers that have nothing better to do then dream up New Laws, which means MORE power FOR THEM AND a hell of a lot less for us.
Roberta, stop with the hyperbole, would you? It's the "elite rulers" i.e. corporations who have pushed these products into every single thing we eat. If you want to eat crap, be my guest. However, if you want my kid to get it in a school lunch because you've listened to too much Beck/Fox and you're a paranoid fool, we're going to have some words.
Pedestrian, If you don't like processed food you can always grow your own, that hasn't been banned by the goverment, yet. Have a garden, can your own food, get some chickens, maybe a goat or two. You act like corporations make you buy their products. It is always someone else to blame for our choices.
american-2444716---actually the govt is instituting programs and regulations that will make it nearly impossible to grow your own healthy foods/meats and god forbid you want to drink raw milk---they have raided places where people drink raw milk with guns drawn as if it were meth lab. google healthy food raid, raw milk raid, mad sheep, animal id system, and other USDA terrorism. or see no nais dot org for more info.
Esbee, what a bunch of dishonest crap that one is. If you're going to produce products for sale or use by others, you have to adhere to a minimum standard of quality an safety. If you want to drink milk fresh from you cow's teat, knock yourself out.
American, I have a small vegetable garden, thank you for your patronizing suggestion though. I don't care for corn syrup in every single thing I buy in a grocery store though, and I'd like to see that change. The move to ban trans fats from our processed foods is a good one - supporting policies like these and those who put them forward is one way I take ownership of the choices I make, instead of blaming others for them.
REALLY!???? They are still using trans fat???? OMG.
“Under the new standard, school meals will get much better,” Wootan said.
Yeah, but what about the TASTE?
It's Socialism, Communism, or some kind of ism. How could they possibly force kids to eat healthy meals that they get from the school cafeteria. I guess they will have to start brown bagging it
The food is NOT the problem, the problem is our bodies have not evolved to be able to easily handle high carb, high energy foods yet. So to compensate most people need to exercise and yes maybe use a drug as well, the rare exceptions are people like myself who have evolved an uber fast metabolism allowing me to eat as much of whatever i want and not gain a single pound. Besides this is a moot point anyway, i nvr ate cafeteria food, i always bought and brought my own "unhealthy" food to eat, which is exactly what will happen. The number of kids eating cafeteria food will plummet, and the number of kids bringing their own food will skyrocket. You cannot legislate free will away.
I hope the oil they use to replaced transfat is not canola...that stuff is industrial oil genetically modified into something people can eat---but should not.
So, basically they're forcing them all to be vegans, because trans fat is automatically created in the cooking process of any meat. Way to go fascists.
The most unhealthy people I've ever met were "vegans," usually clueless vegetarians that had poorly balanced diets with almost no meat in their diets. Regular vegetarians are usually healthy...
That's too bad the the vegans you met were unhealthy. I know plenty of super healthy people who are vegan, in addition to many pro athletes and body builders. It takes effort to educate oneself thoroughly about food. It would be easier if more people were vegan, or ate vegan meals more often because there would be a demand for more vegan take out food!
So, let me get this straight. Schools want to make food healthier by setting standards for food quality, and this is a government intrusion? Well, nobody is stopping you from sending your kid to school with a thermos full of margarine. That would be a government intrusion.
"The National Academy of Sciences has concluded there is no safe level of trans fat consumption. There is no adequate level, recommended daily amount or tolerable upper limit for trans fats. This is because any incremental increase in trans fat intake increases the risk of coronary heart disease." --
There is no reason schools should allow the use of any partially-hydrogenated oils. This industrial chemical process creates a trans fat that people cannot metabolize, and is very harmful to their health. Any product with any kind of "partially hydrogenated oil" should not be part of any person's diet. Period. Especially not children.
This issue has nothing to do with saturated fats, eating meat, or being a vegan. Those choices are entirely separate and unrelated. Normal cooking with meat, animal fat and vegetable oils does not produce trans fats.