By JENNIFER LANG .
OP MACHINES
selling colas, -su-
gar-rich sports. .
drinks and artifici-
ally sweetened
juices are a fixture
at virtually every

school in Terrace,

Soft drinks, the experts say, are
bad for your teeth and can inhibit’
bone development in growing bo-
dies.

. And new research suggests a an
extra can‘a day could make your
child fat.

“A can of pop by itself is not a
big deal,” says-Dr. Joe Zucchiatti,
a dentist who’s been filling cavi-
ties in the mouths of Terrace
children for nearly three decades,
“But some kids actually get ad-
dicted to it.”

~ The sugar and caffeine hit in
many. popular soft drinks packs an
irresistible hit that’ keeps kids
wanting more.

“It’s not a good thing,” Zuc-
chialti says. “The kids are basic-
ally wired.”

Pop packs a double whammy
when it comes to the threat of ca-
vities, he says, because it’s got so
much ‘sugar, and: it's ingested fre-
quently. i

“We don’t see that many cavi-
ties in children, schoal- -aged
children, but when we do find a
number of cavities, we ask what
they’re eating. Generally we come
up with a pop habit.”

That pop Habit can be well en-
trenched by ‘the time kids enter
their teenaged years, when drink-
ing- a can of pop can become a
daily occurtence.

- “They need that hit of Coca
Cola or that hit of Pepsi Cola first
thing in the morning,” he says.
“It's an addiction.”

A fan of the sugar-and-caffeine-
free variety of 7-Up himself, Zuc-
chiatti would like to see healthier
alternatives included in pop ma-
chines :at'schools.

“If thé school system has to
have beverage machines, they
should look for sugar-free and caf-
feine-free as well.”

Zucchiatti credits Terrace’s
fluoridated water supply with pre-
venting much potential tooth
‘decay here.

Habit

f ' ?
orming:
Are kids and schools addicted to

soft drinks? Some people are say-
ing it’s time to break the pop habit.

SOFT DRINK machines are a fixture in virtually every school.

key source of calctum.and Vita-
min D, in a growing chiid’s diet.

“We gain about 95 per cent of
our bone to the age of 19,” Shep-
pard says,

The remaining five per cent is
gained from age 19 to 30.

“It’s really important, especial-
ly in those first 19 years, to max-
imize how much bone we put
down,” Sheppard says.

She adds B.C.'s public health
officials believe the best way to
get schools to enact food policies
is to push for change at at the pro-
vincial level for a top-down ap-
proach.

Meanwhile, in. the U.S. there’s
a growing concern over the avail-
ability of pop in schcols, particu-
larly about the growing rise of
“pouring rights” contracts, exclu-
sive deals soft drink companies
are reaching with school districts.

One health lobby group there
even calls soft drinks “liquid
candy,”

Recently, a U.S, study found a
link between obesity and soft
drinks. Researchers discovered
children drinking one extra soft
drink a day increased their risk of
obesity by 60 per cent.

It all makes for tough choices,
ones Clarence Michiel Elemen-
tary School principal Bill Gook
says ultimately lie with children
and their parents.

He estimates the school earns
about $500 a year from soft drink
sales, and that’s money the school
puts to good use.

Some of the revenues pay for
an annual scholarship given to
former Clarence Michiel students
who are graduating from high
school,

The rest buys school equipment
like new basketballs, nets, and
other odds and ends the school
otherwise couldn't afford to re-
place,

“IT can think of all kinds of
ways to rationalize us selling
sugar beverages,” he says. “One,
it’s funds we don’t have, and two,
kids can make a choice.”

The soft drink machines at his
school are off limit during school
hours but may be used during
lunch and after school.

It's the honour system,

“We just tell kids they can’t
buy pop.” Gook says, adding nu-

But he stresses pop remains a
problem when jit cames to cavi-
_ ties, particularly in outlying. areas
and reserves that don’t, haye. fluor. '
idation. Vs
We can ‘See it clearly ‘pédple
that. have exposure to town water

-pjuice;

and people who don't,’
Community nutritionist Flo

. Sheppard says she'd. like to see ;
.«,$chools provide milks soymilk and *

instead,
children and teens to drink water.

A can of pop is loaded with

"he says.
. Sugar,

4

tte
and, “encourage

empty calories and contains be-
tween 10 and 12 tablespoons of

trition is taught in every class.
“We teach all kinds of things
“ite , besides reading, writing and:math:

fe Shep; jard, says’ ‘pdp,” ‘ig also: po: + You have to teach kids ‘to make
tentially’ bad for growing bangs... reasonable choices and? I think
because soft drinks can replace
nutritious beverages like milk, a

you can make reasonable choices
about pop.”

What kids really want for lunch

A recent survey of young lunch customers turns up some surprising results.

By JENNIFER LANG
WHEN IT comes to bananas, mushy is yucky.

And don’t even think about foods with rai-
_sins or nuts in them.

But kids will happily munch on crunchy raw
broccoli — yes, broccoli — so long as it’s dip-
ped in plain old ranch dressing.

“The dip is essential, otherwise veggies end
up in the garbage, says the woman who pre-
pares 190 bag luriches five days a week for
two school lunch programs in Terrace.

“My goal is for them to eat the veget-
ables,” says Renee Syvret, lunchtime caterer
to E.T. Kenney Primary and Clarence Michiel
Elementary schools.

Syvret probably knows more about the eat-
ing preferences of kids than anyone else in

- Terrace.

She’s conducted two surveys asking child-
ren for their favourite lunchtime picks,

And just as importantly, she’s talked to tea-
chers and custodians, the people who really
know if kids are eating their lunches.

“One of the big problems is white milk,” 2

she says. “The kids don’t like it, And I remem-
ber not liking it, toa.”

But milk, an‘excellent source of calcium
for growing bones, is a must.

She's required to include liquid milk four
times a week in the lunches she prepares,

Her solution? She serves white milk with
something complimentary, like peanut butter
sandwiches of cookies.

Otherwise, she loads the lunches with
crowd-pleasing chocolate milk.

‘Designing a nutritious menu that's also a hil
with kids is a delicate balancing act between
nutritional guidelines, cost and the desire to
please subtle young taste buds.

"It’s quite complicated,” Syvret says.

Occasionally her research findings present a
conundrum.

For instance, she

JENNIFER MARSH and fan Perry help Renee Syvret pack schoal lunches for delivery.

greeny yellow, barely ripe.

Younger children do like to eat egg salad
sandwiches (older kids don’t) - provided
they're not made with celery or green onions
in them.

She learned the hard way that the eggs in
egg salad should be chopped and not mashed.

The trick, she says, is to figure out exactly
why kids will eat certain foods.

Her research has turned up some other sur-
prising findings.

The children told her they like to eat cu-
cumbers and will eat lettuce in sandwiches.

Tortilla wraps and pita bread sandwiches
were both unexpected fail-

can’t serve two uni-
versally loved

“They're not crazy about

ures. “Forget it.”
But the children she sut-

menu items at the Cheese sandwiches which # veyed “liked the sub

same meal because found Surprising.”

. concept,” she adds, ex-

of their sugar con-
tent: chocolate milk and fruit leather.

In conducting her research, she’s found it
pays to be specific as possible when asking
children which foods they like,

Kids say they like to eat oranges, but not
just any orange.

“They'll say ‘oranges, but they mean

*mandarins’,” says Syvret.
And bananas packed with Lunches should be

plaining, “I was really in-
terested in introducing them to new breads.”

In fact, her little lunch clients aren’t big
sandwich fans on the whole; roast beef, ham,
tuna and even cheese sandwiches all scored
low.

“They’re not crazy about cheese sandwi-
ches which I found surprising.”

The kids show a clear preference for white

bread and kaiser buns. °

Her research shows yogurt is an enduring
favourite among children, as is fruit in a tin.

There are some hard and fast rules when it
comes to feeding large groups of kids.

“Don't try anything with raisins or nuts,”
she warns.

Syvret, who also owns and operates
Renee’s Cafe at Mills Memorial Hospital,

says she designs the school lunch menus a

month at a time, choosing items selected spe-
cifically with her young clients in mind.

Her mission is to make sure the children
have nutritious lunches they enjoy — and to in-
troduce them to foods they’ve never tried be-
fore.

Her secret? She introduces new menu items
slowly, and encourages the kids to try some-
thing new more than once,

She says if they don’t think they have a
choice, sometimes they'll give a menu item a
second chance,

Kiwi fruit, with its Jello-green flesh and
confusing eating design, was a surprise hit,

Raw turnips, though, were a bust.

“Some one told me that kids like raw
turnips,” she says.

- “They hated it, But they tried it once,” she
smiles with a satisfied prin.

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, April |

TI 7 ™, ' Pouerod i . aos

1, 2001 - A5
CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD

The Mail Bag

Wood options needed

Dear Sir:

After reading the article “Land-use plan criticism
‘an insult’, George says” (The Terrace Standard,
March 21), | can’t help but come to the aid of Merran
Smith.

Smith was quoted on behalf of the Sierra Club
condemning the LRMP proposal to add only .36 of
one per cent to the Kalum Forest District’s total area
protected from the impacts of big industry.

She commented that if industry committed to
reducing its impact, then more arca could be used for
logging, but since no such commitment was in place,
more area needed to be protected.

City councillor Val George is somehow corivinced
that the Sierra Club isn’t “out to change the way the
forest industry operates, but to simply destroy it”
spite of evidence to the contrary.

Certainly the extreme exists among
environmentalists who want to halt all Jogging, but
that is not my own position, nor, in my understanding,
is it that of the Sierra Club, Certainly the Sierra Club
has the preservation of wilderness as a key interest,
but they are also very supportive of communities who
are using their forests in a more holistic manner in
getting beyond the quick revenue/high impact
industrial scene,

The communities retain much more forest wealth
(particularly in the long term), rather than having the
profits quickly line the southern coffers of government
and industry.

It is noteworthy that under the Jobs and Timber
Accord, our Ministry of Forests committed itself to
create Community Forest Tenures. It is also
interesting to note that there is an active proponent of
community forest initiatives in this forest district.
That proponent is the Skeena Community Timber
Trust.

I feel very strongly that this Trust’s objectives are
in the interests of the local city and village councils,
the chambers of commerce, and the many other
facets of organization which are in place for the
interests of our region’s stability.

The Trust’s objectives of promoting awareness of
timber issues, providing a liaison to assist smail
business in dealing with the forests ministry on issues
of timber sales allocation, and encouraging value
added manufacturing are intentions that our leaders
should support,

Tf met, these objectives will provide, among other
things, a venue for small processors, such as furniture
Makers, to access wood in small but steady amounts
to a cottage industry.

It will also allow for a more hands on approach so
that really high grade wood reaches its market
potential, rather than simply becoming another 2X4. It
allows the option of designating something as
‘furniture wood instead of firewood, as is the case of
aur local birch.

We have the opportunity to realize the potential of
our local forest economies through the suppori of the
Skeena Trust, and the: ideas of the Sierra, Club, both
of which realize the need for reduced impact forestry
for some certainty of our timber resources, and the
need to have more foresight into planning beyond the
foals of the big industry players for the needs of the
present and future workers of this region.

If the current instability of the logging industry has
any potential to have a workable long term solution,
it is not readily apparent, Perhaps we should look at
options on the community level.

Rob Mercereau, Terrace. B.C.

Where was mayor?

An open letter to:
Jack Talstra, Mayor of Terrace

Dear Sir:

In a recent article on natural gas rate hearings
conducted by the B.C. Utilities Commission, it states
“missing from the hearing were presentations from
any City of Terrace representative.” With thal said,
where were you?

I don’t have a whole lot of money like most of the
residents of Terrace, to spend on natural pas bills.

When you took office as mayor of Terrace weren't
you obligated to represent Terrace? If you weren't
available, couldn’t you have found someone just as
competent to do it?

I’m sorry, but you let us all down. If you can't do
your job, and it is a job, you get paid for it, maybe
you should step down.

Robin Muller, Terrace, B.C,

Eye surgeon prized

Dear Sir:

Recently ve undergone two successful eye
surgeries in Terrace, In the past this surgery wasn’t
available here.

Accessibility was difficult. I had to travel to
. Vancouver seven times previously for treatment.

Dr. Stephen Shaver’s expertise is needed in the
Northwest. It is efficient and cost effective. We can
only hope he remains in Terrace and is given the
opportunily to expand his service.

We need available, accessible comprehensive,
medical care in northwestern B.C,

J. MacKenzie, Terrace, B.C.

Fly that flag
Dear Sir:

Where is the patriotism of our city? ve made it a
point of seeing how many business establishments fly
our Canadian flag. 1 find it very discouraging how few
flags are flying. What are we, as Canadian citizens,
teaching our children — no respect for our country?

I do believe we should instill patriotism in our
children at an early age. Lets see some flags.

Mrs. E. Heywood, Terrace, B.C,

About the Mail Bag

The Terrace Standard welcomes letters. Our
address is 3210 Clinton St, Terrace, B.C, V8G
5R2. You can fax us at 250-638-8432 or e-mail
us at standard@kermode.net. No attachments,
please. We need your name, address and
phone number for verification, Our deadline is
noon Friday or noon Thursday if It's a long
weekend,