Copyright 2008 Examiner.com

Jimmy Moore

December 18

Whenever most people hear about the subject of childhood obesity, they tend to get pessimistic about it because they feel the next generation is too far gone to do anything about it. It reminds me of what has happened in high schools over the past couple of decades where they now openly pass out condoms because “they’re gonna have sex anyway” so why not let it be safe? This is exactly the WRONG kind of thinking as it relates to not just teen sex, but our overweight children, too.

If we simply give up on trying to help educate kids about making healthier choices in their diet, then what do you think they’ll eat all day? Hamburgers, pizza, candy bars, sugary soda, M&M’s, potato chips, and anything else they can get their grubby hands on. Why? Because they think that’s real food and how they are supposed to eat based on what they’ve been allowed to do for so long.

But what would happen if adults actually took back control of the schools where the parents, administrators, principals, teachers, and educational staff decided to lay down the law and set rules that the kids would have to abide by in terms of their diet? For example, what if one of the mandates was to ban all sugary, processed, junk food from being served on campus? Well, we don’t have to wonder about that because it’s being happening at an elementary school in Lithonia, Georgia since 1998.

This CNN story details the remarkable work that is happening at Browns Mill Elementary School where the children do not participate in any school fundraiser bake sales, do not celebrate birthdays of their classmates with cupcakes, never get served cookies or ice cream in the cafeteria–why? SUGAR IS NOT ALLOWED AT THE SCHOOL!

That’s right, Browns Mill Elementary School is what they call “a Sugar Free Zone.” All soda and junk food vending machines have been long removed from the campus and the cafeteria only serves real food like broccoli (the most popular veggie) and peaches for dessert. This cutting-edge concept was the brainchild of the school’s principal Dr. Yvonne Sanders-Butler.

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