An 'F' for fat

Washington Post: Public schools raise cash by selling their students everything from Oreos to sugary sports drinks. Vending machines litter campuses, and student stores cater to the sweet tooth. This contributes to America's childhood obesity problem. The proportion of overweight children in the United States more than doubled between 1980 and 2004. For adolescents, that number has more than tripled.
In response, Congress commissioned a study to examine the snacks sold outside the federally regulated school lunch program.
The aim was to produce sensible recommendations on what schools should -- and should not -- offer. The Institute of Medicine responded last week with guidelines sure to upset the average soda-guzzling high-schooler.
Fruits, vegetables
The institute's experts created two tiers of snack foods that schools might sell instead of junk. The first contains things such as fruits, vegetables, non-fat yogurt (without too much sugar) and whole-grain chips. These should be available to all students any time during the school day. Less nutritious -- but not unhealthful -- snacks such as baked potato chips and diet soft drinks are in the second category, which high school students only ought to be able to purchase after school.
The report gives school districts a set of sensible and authoritative guidelines for snack sales; they ought to comply. There is also a case for more federal action. The U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) regulates the contents of school lunches and restricts what can be sold around cafeterias during lunchtime.