Texas Wants Texans To Be Healthy – Like It Or Not

Eating healthy is great and I'm all for it, (not saying I actually do it, just that I'm a fan), but we decide how to balance diet and exercise regimes, right? Not so fast Texas ...

Several bills are being considered that would limit or forbid certain foods for Texans and force exercise on some young Texans. I love the caring attitude behind this but you can't force people to do or eat certain things. Not yet anyway.

Seriously, 3 bills are working their way through the system, each containing certain health mandates that prevent certain foods from being available to certain people, dictate school menus, require physical education classes and some new warning labels.

Senate Bill 25

This one is "busy" and seems to be Lt. Gov Dan Patrick's fave. Among other things, it requires nutritional education for Texas physicians and medical students. Oh yeah, and every Texas resident.

It also creates a Texas Nutrition Advisory Committee, which has a lot of rules to join, and more exercise in schools.

The bill expands physical education requirements for sixth, seventh and eighth grades to participate in physical activity for at least 30 minutes, for at least six semesters, at those grade levels as part of the district's P.E. curriculum. It specifies districts can't restrict participation for a student's "academic performance or behavior." - kvue

The next 2 aren't quite as complicated ...

Senate Bill 314

This one forbids certain "additives" from being in free or reduced school lunch and breakfast meals. 7 specific additives would be banned because there are healthier alternatives available.

This one, I get. Eating crap vs. not eating at all shouldn't be a call a kid has to make.

Senate Bill 379

Simplest one of all. According to KVUE, it prevents "SNAP benefits from being used on food and drinks with little to no nutritional value, such as soda, energy drinks, candy, potato chips and cookies".