By Nanci Hellmich
USA TODAY
The beverage industry's agreement to remove sugary soft drinks from public and private U.S. schools over the next three years — a plan engineered with the help of former president Bill Clinton — is drawing mixed reactions from kids and critics.
The plan, outlined by Clinton and executives of the beverage industry and the American Heart Association, follows years of heated debate over the role of such beverages in the childhood obesity epidemic. Many states have moved to revamp what's offered in school vending machines.
“The soft-drink industry has been losing battles in local school districts and in state legislatures and simply saw the inevitable — being kicked out from all schools,” says Kelly Brownell of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University.
Under the voluntary agreement:
•High schools will no longer sell high-calorie soft drinks during the school day but will offer water, low-fat and fat-free milk, diet soft drinks, low-calorie sports drinks, light juices and diet and unsweetened teas.
•Elementary schools will sell only water and up to 8-ounce servings of 100% juice with no added sweeteners, and fat-free and low-fat milks. Middle schools have the same standards but with 10-ounce servings.
•The beverage industry will strive to implement the guidelines by the start of the 2009-10 school year.
Clinton called the plan “a bold step forward in the struggle to help America's kids lead healthier lives.” Government data show that one-third of U.S. children and teens are overweight or about to become so.
picture courtesy images.google.com & story courtesy yahoo.news.com, 05/04/06
27Just then his disciples arrived. They were astonished to find him talking to a woman, but none of them asked him why he was doing it or what they had been discussing. 28The woman left her water jar beside the well and went back to the village and told everyone, 29"Come and meet a man who told me everything I ever did! Can this be the Messiah?" 30So the people came streaming from the village to see him. 31Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus to eat. 32"No," he said, "I have food you don't know about." 33"Who brought it to him?" the disciples asked each other. 34Then Jesus explained: "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.
We know Jesus didn't get to choose between regular Coke and diet, but we do know that He chose to be spiritually healthy.
HOW DID JESUS GET HIS NOURISHMENT?
Don't misunderstand. Jesus was not only God on earth, but He was human - so He had to eat real food! The "food" that Jesus was talking about was His spiritual nourishment. His strength came from obeying His Heavenly Father.
HOW DO YOU GET YOUR SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT?
If you're involved in a Bible-teaching church, studying God's Word and praying regularly, you are dining on the right kind of spiritual food. But real spiritual growth also comes from doing God's will and helping to build His Kingdom. You'll not only be nourished by what you take in, but also by what you give out for God.
You can't get spiritually healthy by filling up on worldly or religious junk food. Spiritual growth is not like a quick fix out of a vending machine. It comes only through a regular diet of the "bread of life" and the "living water".
- For the next month, every time you drink a soda or eat out of a vending machine, let God's Spirit remind you to receive spiritual nourishment from doing God's will.
- Keep a written journal of what you are doing every day that results in taking in God's spiritual nourishment. Check it every week. At the end of a month, make any needed changes in your daily habits.
Daily Devos is published Monday through Friday. Archives can be found at YFC.ORG. Its purpose is to help you apply truths from God's Word every day.
Our writer, Byron Emmert, has been involved with Youth For Christ for 30 years. He's served as Campus Life Staff, as a writer, and in leadership for the DCLA Conferences. Byron is married to Linda and their family includes two married sons and daughters-in-law, and a daughter in college. He loves sports, deep dish pizza, and spending time with his family.