Tribune opinion: Let's keep our kids healthy

You wouldn't fill a bottle with soda pop. And you probably wouldn't fill a sippy cup with a Coke, either. Our standards go limp, however, once our children start to listen to music that we think sounds like coyotes howling at midnight.

For years, our teenagers in Greeley-Evans School District 6 could purchase sodas right in the school. The deal seemed to be a good one. The kids could drink as many sodas as they wanted, and District 6 enjoyed its 10-year, $1.82 million contract with Coca-Cola. The only problem, of course, is that soda isn't very good for anyone. If you melted down a package of marshmallow Peeps (a holiday favorite), it's doubtful you'd still find the same amount of sugar in one can of soda. And the empty yet significant calories of soda continue to be a reason why more and more of our kids are overweight.

But Rep. Jim Riesberg thinks he has a solution, and we hope the Colorado Legislature agrees.

Riesberg, D-Greeley, has a bill working its way through the state House that would ban soda from public schools. The Senate already has approved it, although it will need to approve the amended version again before Gov. Ritter gets to take a gander.

School districts were rightfully concerned about losing all that sweet money, but Riesberg has a fix for that. The rules won't go into effect until the district signs a new contract. The current contract runs out in March 2009.

Even better, the sodas would be replaced by juices and bottled water, and Coca-Cola makes those drinks as well. In fact, Roger Fiedler, spokesman for Greeley-Evans School District 6, said Coca-Cola is already changing its vending machines to offer mostly healthier alternatives and remove full-calorie sodas. Machines in the elementary and middle schools already offer those alternatives, and the company is working on the high schools.

We know what you're thinking. Surely those teens will make runs at lunch to a convienence store and buy one of those 130-ounce Gulpees or whatever it is to get their drink fix. Riesberg doesn't think so.

"There's a strong body of evidence that when more nutrious beverages were offered, the students did take advantage of them," Riesberg said.

We'd still prefer mandates so the company won't change its mind, and Riesberg hopes the bill could reach the House floor by the first week of April. Then we hope it's ushered through to Ritter's desk as quickly as possible.

It's time we began monitoring what our teens put into their bodies as much as we watch over our babies. As far as the music goes, all we need to do is remind ourselves that our parents probably didn't like Kajagoogoo, either.