School return lacks fizz

Officials have banned Coke, Pepsi and Seven Up from vending machines in schools and replaced them with water, fruit juice and milk.

The ban is an attempt to improve the eating habits of Los Angeles children.

Officials say nearly half of children in the area are either overweight or obese.

Zen Yaroslavsky, the chairman of the School Board in Los Angeles County, said: "Obesity and other complications resulting from obesity such as diabetes are now at epic proportions in Los Angeles and across the country.

"It's become apparent to policy makers that if we don't do something about it, you are consigning kids to a horrible quality of life."

School principal Faye Banton fully supports the ban.

"I think our whole society is a couch potato population, where we sit and we watch and we don't do as much physically as we should do, and kids model what we do," she said.

"So we are taking the can away from the couch."

Schools hope that by saying goodbye to the vending machines, and encouraging children to eat and drink healthily, children will not only feel better but also learn better.

But the decision to ban the vending machines came at a price.

Companies like Coca Cola pay substantial amounts to schools to put their machines inside.

Schools might earn as much as £200,000 a year through such sponsorship.

Critics of the ban argue it will mean children lose out on sports and after-school activities, which are sometimes funded through sponsorship cash.

John Doyle, of the Centre for Consumer Freedom, said: "It's an ironic twist that if you eliminate soft drinks you are going to ultimately eliminate after-school activities and sporting activities, which help reduce the obesity problems so you are going to hurt children even more."