Food good for the soul is front and center in this Sunday’s readings, while food not good for the body is front and center for doctors and nutritionists whoe are alarmed by the fact that nearly 40 percent of elementary-school children are overweight, about half of whom are obese. A new study suggests that laws strictly curbing school sales of junk food and sweetened drinks may play a role in slowing childhood obesity, the first evidence such efforts could pay off.

In the first reading this Sunday we hear that “Wisdom has spread her table,” while the psalmist invites us to “taste” the goodness of the Lord. And as “the living bread that came down from heaven,” Jesus promises that “the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.” But, as Alice Camille points out in this Sunday’s issue of "Exploring the Word," “In our eat-and-run culture, we no longer intuitively accept that meals are a kind of covenant. . . . Burgers shared out of a bag in the car from front seat to back is not quite the same thing.”

While it would be difficult to regulate fast-food sales to the general public, at least in schools nutritionists have a fighting chance, and this latest data may give them more ammunition in the fight against obesity. If the laws have even a tiny effect, "What are the downsides of improving the food environment for children today?" asked Dr. David Ludwig, an obesity specialist at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital. “You can't get much worse than it already is.”

Children in the study gained less weight from fifth through eighth grades if they lived in states with strong, consistent laws versus no laws governing snacks available in schools. For example, kids who were 5 feet tall and 100 pounds gained on average 2.2 fewer pounds if they lived in states with firm laws in the three years studied. Also, children who were overweight or obese in fifth grade were more likely to reach a healthy weight by eighth grade if they lived in states with the toughest laws.

"This is the first real evidence that the laws are likely to have an impact," said Dr. Virginia Stallings, director of the nutrition center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Stallings chaired an Institute of Medicine panel that urged standards for making snack foods and drinks sold in schools more healthful but was not involved in the new research.

Source: An article by Lindsey Tanner for the Associated Press