APATT_CommunityActionGuide

Take Your Place Community Action Guide
27
Q&A: The School Snack–Obesity Connection
A recent report by the Kids’ Safe and Healthful Foods Project examined state standards for the types
of snacks that can be sold in secondary schools. In this Q&A, Jessica Donze Black, the project’s
director, talks about the report’s findings.
Q: You’ve just released a new report about school snacks—what did you find?
Jessica Donze Black (JDB): We found that the majority of our nation’s students live in states where
less-healthy snacks like full-fat chips and candy are readily available in snack bars, school stores and
vending machines, but there is limited access to healthy snacks. What students are able to buy varies
widely from state to state, with some offering healthy snacks and others primarily providing lesshealthy
snack options.
Q: Why should we care about the kind of snacks sold in schools?
JDB: What we know is that obesity rates have more than tripled among children and teens over the
past three decades, leaving nearly one in three kids overweight or obese. Research also shows that
110 to 165 calories per day—the difference between eating an apple or a bag of chips for a snack—
may be responsible for these skyrocketing obesity rates among children. And a study released this
summer shows that strong nutrition standards for snack foods sold in schools may help reduce
students’ weight gain.
Q: Will healthier snacks in schools really make a difference when many other factors play into
childhood obesity and chronic disease?
JDB: Many children get as many as half of their daily calories while at school, so what they eat and
drink there does play a major role in contributing to their overall health and well-being. In addition,
school is where many children learn dietary habits that will last them a lifetime, so it is beneficial to
begin teaching them to choose healthier alternatives while they are young.
Q&A reprinted courtesy of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2012).