An even stricter diet.

Byline: David Steves The Register-Guard

SALEM - The Eugene School District may be feeding its students tofu sloppy Joes and keeping soda pop out of their reach, but critics say too many districts still let students choose high-fat pepperoni pizza and calorie-rich snack bars.

Citing an epidemic of obese children, a bipartisan group of lawmakers and health advocates Wednesday introduced legislation banning unhealthy foods and drinks in schools. Sen. Joanne Verger, a Coos Bay Democrat and one of the bill's sponsors, said schools have a duty to provide only healthful options for students' food and drink - even if their parents are OK with jumbo pop and fast food at home.

`They have a responsibility to stand up and say, `These are good choices for you,' ' she said.

The proposal, House Bill 2650, limits by calorie count and fat and sugar content the snacks, drinks and a la carte entrees students can get in school and at after-school activities. Soda would be banned, except for diet pop in high schools. No snacks could have trans fats.

Backers at Wednesday's news conference said the state of childhood obesity was alarming. They cited projections that one in three children born today are destined to become obese and one in four schoolchildren already are considered obese or at risk of becoming so.

Opponents - the soft drink industry and lobby groups representing school boards and administrators - said they would oppose the bill on the same grounds that they used in blocking similar legislation in 2005.

Rob Douglas, a lobbyist for the Oregon Soft Drink Association, said his group opposed the measure in part because efforts at the national level were under way to ensure that students have more healthful choices and greater dedication from educators to their wellness.

The federal government required all school districts that take part in its school breakfast and lunch programs to come up with wellness policies, such as the one that led the Eugene School District to ban sugary drinks and food of low nutritional value.

Rep. Bruce Hanna, a Roseburg Republican whose district includes east Lane County, is CEO of the Coca Cola distributor in Roseburg and former president of the Oregon Soft Drink Association. He said districts are following these national standards, along with the marketplace-driven trend away from excessive consumption of unhealthy food and beverages. Statewide mandates, he said, were unnecessary.

"I think reasonable people should have a choice," Hanna said. "They're capable of making good decisions."

David Williams, lobbyist for the Oregon School Boards Association, said his group's objections were the same as in 2005. While the potential loss of revenue from soft drink vending contractors was a concern to cash-strapped districts, he said the biggest issue was local control.

"We think policies of local districts are best left to the locally elected school boards," he said.

But advocates said with so many overweight children prone to diabetes and heart disease and life-spans shorter than those of their parents, it was no longer good enough for schools to offer healthy alternatives.

Mary Lou Hennrich of Community Health Partnership said most of the wellness policies adopted by Oregon school districts fell short of what children need. Her organization found that of the 174 districts that submitted their plans to the state, only 34 specified the nutritional standards or guidelines they would set for the foods they sold.

Those districts, including Eugene, that adopted specific standards banning certain foods and setting nutrition requirements for entrees, "are to be applauded," but represent only about 20 percent of Oregon's school systems, Hennrich said.

"When we're talking school and grades, 20 percent isn't a passing grade," she said.

Eugene district administrator Hillary Kittleson said the proposed state standards were similar to her school system's. Still, she said the local decision-making process probably better serves Eugene schools and students than a statewide mandate would.

Springfield schools spokesman Jeff DeFranco said his district took a "middle of the road" approach. It offers students choices between healthy foods, such as chicken caesar wraps, and higher-fat foods, such as corn dogs.

He said it appeared that elementary schools, which don't offer vending machine snacks or drinks, already met the proposed standards. But DeFranco said Springfield's two high schools give students after-school vending machine choices - pop or water, baked or oily chips - that reflected input from a student advisory group.

"They wanted to be treated like adults and encouraged to make good choices," he said. "But in the end, it's their choice to make."

Supporters of HB 2650 said they signed up 10 Republican sponsors as well as 12 Democratic sponsors to demonstrate the proposal's bipartisan appeal. One of those sponsors, Rep. Scott Bruun, R-West Linn, said backing the measure meant reconciling his free-market leanings with his concerns that parents are able to keep their kids from consuming unhealthy food and drinks, even during the school day.

`From my side, as a free-market Republican, there's the question, `shouldn't you have the right to choose?' Well, yeah, if you're 18 or 35. But I still think a 10-year-old needs parental control - even if a parent can't be in school,' he said.

Sen. Bill Morrisette, a Springfield Democrat and a chief sponsor of last session's and this year's proposed junk-food bans, said he was confident the bill would pass. But he joked that he had an "ultimate act of desperation" as a fallback.

That, he said, "would be to introduce a bill called the fat tax." People would be required to weigh in and, if they exceed the weight standards for their height, "they would pay a tax to the state of Oregon to take care of them when they get ill."

Visit David Steves' Capitol Notebook blog at www.register guard.com/blogs/index.php/ capnote. He can be reached at [phone] or dsteves @guardnet.com.

HEALTHY FARE

House Bill 2650 would set standards for food and drink available to students.

SNACKS

No trans fats; less than 36 percent of calories from fat; less than 36 percent sugar content; calories per snack limited to 150 for elementary schools, 180 for middle schools and 200 for high schools

Out: Frosted animal cookies, traditional chips, Pop Tarts

In: Pretzels, fruit, baked chips

BEVERAGES

Low- or no-fat milk, water,

100 percent fruit juices; low- calorie soda in high schools only

Out: Nondiet soda, sports drinks

In: Orange juice, nonfat milk

A LA CARTE

ENTREES

No more than 4 grams of fat per 100 calories; no more than 450 total calories

Out: Chicken nuggets, corn dog*

In: Chicken sandwich, turkey pizza pocket*

*Depending on ingredients, portion size and preparation