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School
Fundraisers: Supporting or Undermining Health Messages?
Fundraisers have been a part
of school and extra-curricular groups for many years, and as
budgets get tighter, that income becomes more crucial. Now government
and health experts are increasingly calling us to stop and consider
the long-term effects of basing most of these fundraisers on
high-calorie foods with little nutritional value.
More than twice as many children,
and more than three times as many adolescents, are now obese
compared to 1980. Since childhood obesity lays the groundwork
for development of diabetes, heart disease and some forms of
cancer later in life, health experts say we need major changes
in youth eating and activity patterns. A 2009 report from the
American Institute for Cancer Research on policies that support
healthier lifestyles to lower cancer risk includes a recommendation
that schools provide healthy meals and restrict availability
of unhealthy foods and drinks. |
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Chocolate candy, cookies and
other high-fat bakery items are sold in fundraisers in 50 percent
of elementary schools and 67 percent of high schools, according
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The
same survey reports that more than a third of states and school
districts have policies prohibiting sales of "junk food"
for fundraisers.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM)
has issued a report on steps to improve the nutritional value
of food in schools. Many schools now have wellness boards that
support improvements in school breakfast, lunch and vending machine
offerings in accordance with the IOM recommendations. Yet it’s
not clear how many also follow the IOM recommendation to set
standards for fundraising to offer only non-food products and
foods that meet the nutrition standards for healthy school meals.
Some people believe that these
restrictions go overboard because bake sales and other fundraisers
occur too occasionally to make a difference. However, others
say fundraisers add to an already excessive amount of high-calorie,
low-nutrient foods available to children and teens, especially
in the extra large portions commonly sold. Furthermore, many
educators say that these sales contradict and undermine lessons
about the importance of healthy eating. They suggest that fundraising
with healthy foods and non-food items puts into practice healthy
lifestyle messages.
One of the CDC’s Ten Key Strategies to Prevent Obesity in
our schools is to ensure that students have appealing, healthy
choices in foods and beverages offered outside of the school
meals program. Healthful foods that could be offered in fundraisers
include fresh fruit, nuts, trail mix and popcorn.
Just as important, many state
health departments and health professional organizations have
developed lists of non-food and healthy food fundraisers that
are readily available on the Internet. Students might sell gift
wrap and greeting cards, magazine subscriptions, plants, garden
seeds and bulbs, holiday wreaths and decorations, calendars,
and school spirit mugs and T-shirts. A variety of charity events
can also make excellent fundraisers, some with potential side
benefits promoting physical activity. These include walk-a-thons,
bike-a-thons, fun runs, jump rope contests and read-a-thons,
as well as services such as recycling, gift-wrapping and singing
telegrams. Other events may offer more family or community involvement,
such as rummage sales, holiday carnivals, talent shows, craft
sales, family bingo nights and adult dances.
There is no single answer to the epidemic of obesity among youth
and adults. But the CDC is calling on all of us in our communities
to view fundraisers with the long-term picture in mind: "Use
fundraising activities and rewards that support student health." |
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