GOVERNMENT SOUR ON SCHOOL SWEETS.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

WASHINGTON - To cut down on the soda, snacks and sweets children are eating, the government wants to require that all food sold in schools meets nutrition standards. That could mean an end to soda machines in the hall and candy and cookie sales to buy band uniforms.

The junk food that kids consume at school is contributing to obesity and other health problems, the Agriculture Department said in a report requested by Congress.

The department sets nutrition standards for school lunches and breakfasts, but it would take an act of Congress for it to begin regulating what is served outside the cafeterias.

``You walk outside the door of the cafeteria and the halls are lined with pop machines,'' said Marilyn Hurt, president of the American School Food Association. ``There's nothing to prevent the student from spending their money on pop and candy instead of going in and getting a sandwich, milk and a piece of fruit.''

In the Los Angeles Unified School District and many other school systems, soft drink contracts have become an ever-popular fund-raiser for cash-strapped schools. Cafeterias are also offering an increasing array of items that include snacks, desserts and flavored drinks.

In Los Angeles, vending machine contracts are handled on a school-by- school basis. Revenue from the machines is critical in funding student activities, such as sports and newspapers, school officials said.

``We'd be in trouble,'' said Reseda High School Principal Robert Kladifko. ``I don't know how we would be able to provide uniforms and equipment, including shoulder pads and things of that sort for our students.''

Teacher Jay Shaffer, the adviser to Reseda High School's student government, said the school usually has a student body fund of more than $50,000 - a majority of which comes from vending machines. Those machines, however, have been getting more nutritious in recent years, and they now sell hot soup and fruit juice, he noted.

Kladifko said the district plans to pilot a milk vending machine program at Reseda soon. Also, the cafeteria sells soda as well, meaning students don't have to rely on the vending machines for their caffeine and sugar fix.

Candy bars are sold from the student store, contributing to the same student fund, although students are not allowed to sell candy on campus on their own as independent fund-raisers.

The student body fund pays for almost all sports expenses, including referee payments and uniforms, as well as the newspaper, yearbook, Academic Decathlon team and other activities.

The Agricultural Department says there are nutritional problems with both the snacks being offered in cafeterias and what's being offered in vending machines elsewhere in schools.

``When children are taught in the classroom about good nutrition and the value of healthy food choices but are surrounded by vending machines, snack bars, school stores and a la carte sales offering low nutrient density options, they receive the message that good nutrition is merely an academic exercise,'' the report says.

Between 1996 and 1997, more than 30 percent of school districts nationwide increased the number of snacks they were offering in cafeterias, and 22 percent widened the array of desserts, a separate USDA report says.

No information was available on sodas sold outside cafeterias, but about 200 of the nation's 12,000 school districts have contracts that give soft drink companies exclusive rights to sell their products in schools, according to the National Soft Drink Association.

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, who took office last month, is reviewing the report's proposals, said spokesman Kevin Herglotz. The report was completed in the final days of the Clinton administration, sent to Congress and later posted on the department's Web site.