Obese children tend to become obese adults.

Obese adults tend to get high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic back pain, heart attacks and strokes.

Some researchers in an article published in the August 13, 2012 edition of Pediatrics have a partial answer.

Competitive foods are those sold outside of the Federal meal program. The conclusion from the Full Report:

Laws that regulate competitive food nutrition content may
reduce adolescent BMI change if they are comprehensive, contain strong
language, and are enacted across grade levels. Pediatrics 2012;130:437–
444

What this means is that researchers have found something our state legislators and local school boards can do to slow the public health crisis of obesity among children.

But there is a problem—you knew that, right? Many school districts depend on the sales of snacks and sugary drinks to supplement the local school budget. Even if the wealthiest school districts could afford to remove the snack and drink machines, the poorer districts would face a Hobson’s choice: accept the machines and health risks or reject them at the expense of education.

Many states have been dealing with how to equitably share revenue among different school districts, allowing some redistribution of revenue in favor of the poorer districts without being confiscatory toward the wealthier districts. What is “equitable” is a highly charged political debate.

Even with the political caveat, it is reassuring to learn there may be things we can do, even without Federal intervention, to reverse the public health epidemic of obesity and its consequences.