Poll: More than half of adults want junk food out of schools

More than half of the country’s adults support a blanket ban on junk food in schools, according to a national survey conducted this month.

Fifty-two percent of adults said they would prohibit soft drinks and sugary snacks in schools, the Rasmussen poll found, while 40 percent of those surveyed said that kids should continue to have access to those foods.

The poll arrives as healthcare experts and children advocates are warning of the cost and health concerns associated with the country’s growing obesity epidemic. Between 30 percent and 40 percent of the growth in healthcare costs is due to the increase in obesity over the last 15 years, according to Ken Thorpe, executive director of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease.

Some congressional leaders are well aware of the problem. The House Education and Labor Committee last week approved an $8 billion proposal to expand eligibility for the country’s school meal programs and to take steps that ensure those meals are more nutritious. Sponsored by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the panel chairman, the Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act would also create new meal programs targeting low-income children and bolster protections against food contamination in schools.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) has sponsored a similar, if slimmed down, proposal in the upper chamber.

Meanwhile, healthcare groups and children advocates continue their lobbying behind the bills. The American Heart Association, for instance, announced Tuesday that a petition drive urging lawmakers to pass the bills this year has produced more than 16,000 e-mails sent to Capitol Hill on the topic.