Poll: More than half of adults want junk food out of schools

Some congressional leaders are
well aware of the problem. The House Education and Labor Committee last week
approved an $8 billion proposal to expand eligibility for the country’s school
meal programs and to take steps that ensure those meals are more nutritious.
Sponsored by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the panel chairman, the Improving
Nutrition for America’s Children Act would also create new meal programs
targeting low-income children and bolster protections against food
contamination in schools.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.)
has sponsored a similar, if slimmed down, proposal in the upper chamber.

Meanwhile, healthcare groups
and children advocates continue their lobbying behind the bills. The American
Heart Association, for instance, announced Tuesday that a petition drive urging
lawmakers to pass the bills this year has produced more than 16,000 e-mails
sent to Capitol Hill on the topic.