| By Bob Weaver
The West Virginia Board of Education has voted 8-1 to ban the sale of caffeinated beverages in public high schools.
Board members want to fight the state's top obesity ranking, and are moving to set limits on food and drinks high in sugar, fat and sodium that are served to students at many state schools.
Calhoun Schools have already set some limits on snacks and sodas.
"The machines that provide soda are open to high schools students during their afternoon break, from 1:50 to 2:00 p.m. and are then reopened at 3:40 p.m. after buses have departed," according to Donnie Pitts.
Pitts says there are no snack machines in schools.
"If snacks are provided, every attempt has been made to insure that they are healthy and meet the guidelines provided by the state," he said.
During the school day, middle and elementary school students cannot currently buy caffeine and sugary soft drinks.
Twenty state county school systems have a total ban on sugar-laden sodas.
The new state policy does not prohibit the sale of non-nutritious items during after school activities, and would not affect fund-raising activities.
Some school programs depend on funding from sodas and snacks.
The state board's efforts appear to be focused on caffeinated beverages.
The nutrition policy approved by the State Board also would limit sodium to no more than 200 milligrams per product, nearly ban all trans fat, limit saturated fat to less than 10 percent of total calories, limit total calories to 200 per product and reduce sugar content to 35 percent or less per product, excluding fruits.
A 20-ounce Sprite has 240 calories, while other sugary sodas have less than 200 calories.
A 12-ounce Diet Sunkist, for example, is allowed. It contains no calories, no fat and only 130 milligrams of sodium.
The policy, which goes into effect July 1, would not keep students from bringing in soft drinks.
Sources close to the soft-drink industry have said Calhoun County is one of the regions biggest revenue producers.
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