Nickname: Amy

Review: As a teacher, I see that it's not just soda that is causing the problem. My below-poverty kids have no choice but to have only a donut and juice with high-fructose corn syrup as the 2nd ingredient (water is first) for breakfast and eat hot dogs and chips for lunch. That's all the cafeteria serves. Ridiculous.

Date reviewed: May 8, 2006 4:49 AM

Nickname: EatMoreFruit

Review: Hi all, I agree with Ian, it is the content. But I also agree with the rhetorical theme it is the parent's responsibility. I have a 7 year-old and an 8 year-old and we never ever have cola or chips at home and we rarely allow them to have them when we are at restaurants. Our goal is to have the kids make the right choices on their own and this not only goes for drinks and snacks, but for smoking, drugs, and sex. My kids love fruit and this has reintroduced me to what is a sweet and tasteful snack and meal time treat for the whole family.

Date reviewed: May 6, 2006 3:19 PM

Nickname: Anonymous

Review: What's odd is that these drinks/foods are the same ones that have been in existence for years, yet why is it that only now are we seeing a problem from it? The issue isn't food, it's tv, video games, computers/the internet and a general idea that its better to stay inside than go out and play.

Date reviewed: May 6, 2006 1:01 AM

Nickname: CDT

Review: Softdrink companies are in part to blame for the increase in overweight kids. When I went to college every building and floor had a machine in the hallway. Fighting your cravings is hard to do when you walk by 5+ machines on the way to class. Kids need to be more active in school and after school. All I did as a kid was play outside and I did have a computer and NES at home waiting, but my parents stressed the importance of playing outside with friends and being active. The impression of indoor activities(games and technology) being all that we need/want to do is another key factor in how our population has become overweight. If we could stress to the current upcoming parent generation to raise some healthy active kids, our nation would get healthier. One step in this process would have the soft drink companies be more informative/responsible with their products, leaving one helpful temption out of the equation for parents to raise healthy kids.

Date reviewed: May 5, 2006 7:23 PM

Nickname: Weezie

Review: This is one of the best things short of full funding that's happened to schools. You can say kids need to exercise, but where are the P.E. teachers to do it? They're getting fired because people are so concerned about reading and math scores, teaching to the test. If parents want their students to drink soda pop, they can buy it at the grocery store..heck, they'd even save money by getting it at a store instead of from a machine. Parents need to take responsibility. By the way, it's not the government that's stepping in here. It's the soda companies themselves, not Big Brother.

Date reviewed: May 5, 2006 7:14 PM

Nickname: kerem from turkey

Review: I'm not sure the junk food is the real reason. We had all kinds of junk food and vending machines at school, yet there were only two or three obese kids among 250 students in my grade. Those children just don't use their bodies in any activity except for sitting or lying. They need action.

Date reviewed: May 5, 2006 9:08 AM

Nickname: Melissa

Review: According to the article, by eliminating soda kids will weigh 20 pounds less by the time they graduate high school. Now I only weighed 95 pounds when I graduated and I'm 5'6 and I only drank Pepsi. If I had weighed 20 pounds less I would have had some serious problems.

Date reviewed: May 5, 2006 4:03 AM

Nickname: Sarge

Review: None of this will do much good if physical education is not present in the schools. Altogether too many kids get no exercise whatsoever and will get sodas, chips, cookies, candy etc. at home. Vigerous exercise will not only burn calories, but will stimulate blood flow to the brain, which might even bring up test scores.

Date reviewed: May 5, 2006 1:55 AM

Nickname: Jdrames

Review: I love that people are so quick to blame others for their lack of parenting. I'm sorry but I had three soda machines and snack machines in my school. While I may have purchased a few items out of it, I didn't make it my meal. Often imes the kids that did use the snack machines as meal tickets were doing the same thing at home on the sofa. I'm sorry, but as a 21-year-old I'd say my parents taught me how to eat and live a healthy life style of good food and exersise. If you want to place blame on someone for your child's weight go look in the mirror.

Date reviewed: May 5, 2006 12:50 AM

Nickname: Ian

Review: It is the ingredients that are making kids fat. High fructose corn syrup is the real evil. Juices and "energy drinks" are full of the junk so the problem doesn't dissappear, it merely takes a new form.

Date reviewed: May 4, 2006 5:59 PM