September 2003

California joins childhood obesity fight

California is the most recent state to join in the fight against childhood obesity. Gov. Gray Davis signed SB 677, the California childhood Obesity Prevention Act, into law. The new legislation takes soda out of public elementary, middle and junior high school campuses, effective July 1, 2004.

According the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that sponsored the bill, Arkansas and New York have similar laws banning unhealthy beverages. West Virginia has a similar policy issued by the State Department of Education. And similar administrative policies that ban the sale of unhealthy beverages in schools are in effect in three other states — Florida, Hawaii and Texas.

In addition to banning the sale of soda during school hours, the California law sets nutrition standards for all beverages sold and stipulates what constitutes a healthy beverage.

Source: Business Wire

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