| ■ School Food Rules Reduce Number of Overweight Students | 07.04.27 |
| Within four years after banning soft drinks and sweets and introducing healthier lunches, 10 Stockholm, Sweden schools saw a six percent decline in the number of overweight students, says a study presented Monday at an international obesity conference in Budapest, Hungary. The number of overweight or obese children ages 6 to 10 decreased from 22 percent to 16 percent, said the study by researchers at the Karolinska Institute, Agence France Presse reported. In a control group of students in schools that did not introduce food restrictions, the number of overweight/obese children increased from 18 percent to 21 percent. "Our results show that programs to reduce the increasing rate of obesity can be carried out within the schools' existing budgets," researcher Professor Claude Marcus said in a prepared statement. "We also interpret the results to mean that clear regulations in schools can help parents to set standards for their children and improve dietary habits at home." |