- Senate Bill 25 is aiming to minimize chronic health issues by requiring nutrition education.
- Products will clearly highlight the risky substances in large labels to better educate consumers.
- Bill introduces a Texas Nutrition Advisory Committee-- advocating for mandatory physical activity and nutrition courses in our schools.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
“Our kids are unhealthier than they've ever been,” registered dietician Kayley Gorge said.
Senate Bill 25 is aiming to minimize chronic health issues by requiring nutrition education.
“The bill covers a lot of different areas, but the food labeling, I think, is the biggest change that they're proposing. So, the bill is proposing more transparency in regard to what kind of additives, colors, chemicals are in these products,” Gorge said.
If approved, products will clearly highlight the risky substances in large labels – to better educate consumers.
“So, when you go to the grocery store, you're having to sift through all of this fine print and all of these numbers and all of these foreign ingredients that you can't understand, and it can be really overwhelming for the average consumer,” Gorge said.
The bill introduces a Texas Nutrition Advisory Committee, advocating for mandatory physical activity and nutrition courses in our schools.
McLennan Community College’s Dr. Chad Eggleston told 25 News finding classroom space for mandatory lessons could be a challenge.
“We would likely have some sort of online learning module that we ask students to complete…that helps students to have good information about how they eat, what they eat,” McLennan Community College’s Dr. Chad Eggleston said. “If Senate Bill 25 is a part of that good work we will lean into it with enthusiasm,”
Gorge told 25 News these resources could benefit students significantly.
“Kids that are overweight have worse grades, worse success in schools. They don't thrive in an educational setting compared to their peers that are at a healthier weight,” Gorge said
"They find that when kids have more activity, they can focus better. There are better educational outcomes. They get better scores, things like that,”
These changes could help address the issues like obesity, impacting more than 34% of Texans, according to the CDC.
“Diabetes, cardiovascular health in our aging populations, we're seeing cancer, dementia, Alzheimer’s,” Gorge said.
"We're seeing that across the board, and we're seeing it more and more in kids, which is concerning,”
