Debate: Will banning school bake sales help fight childhood obesity?
Updated: May 08, 2012
Experts say the key to fighting childhood obesity in the U.S. is through the school system‘but is a ban on
Experts say the key to fighting childhood obesity in the U.S. is through the school system‘but is a ban on bake sales the best way to do it?
A number of U.S. public schools think so.
Schools in Maryland, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, New York and Texas have instituted a ban on unhealthy foods sold during bake sales and classroom parties.
‘If a bake sale is going on, it’s reported to administration and it’s taken care of,’ Marla Caplon of food and nutrition services in Montgomery County, Maryland told Business Week.
Massachusetts is the latest to join in the ban, and will even disallow cookie handouts for children’s birthdays.
Critics of the ban argue bake sales are a source of financial support for sports and other activities, which arguably, contribute to the fight against obesity.
In New York, public schools don’t allow students to sell home-baked goods, but do allow packaged, store-bought goods.
With 26 percent of Canadian children and nearly a third of U.S. children being overweight or obese, something needs to be done’but is banning bake sales the answer?
What do you think? Can bake sales really be blamed for childhood obesity? Or should schools consider other methods of encouraging healthy behaviour?
-Katharine Watts, Associate Web Editor
Related:
‘ Do these controversial childhood obesity ads cross the line?
‘ Our best healthy dessert recipes
‘ 5 ways to sneak veggies into baked goods
