Georgia’s Brown Mills Elementary School Celebrates One Decade Of Being Sugar-Free

Kids can learn and thrive in a sugar-free school environment

Whenever most people hear about the subject of childhood obesity, they tend to get pessimistic about it because they feel the next generation is too far gone to do anything about it. It reminds me of what has happened in high schools over the past couple of decades where they now openly pass out condoms because “they’re gonna have sex anyway” so why not let it be safe? This is exactly the WRONG kind of thinking as it relates to not just teen sex, but our overweight children, too.

If we simply give up on trying to help educate kids about making healthier choices in their diet, then what do you think they’ll eat all day? Hamburgers, pizza, candy bars, sugary soda, M&M’s, potato chips, and anything else they can get their grubby hands on. Why? Because they think that’s real food and how they are supposed to eat based on what they’ve been allowed to do for so long.

But what would happen if adults actually took back control of the schools where the parents, administrators, principals, teachers, and educational staff decided to lay down the law and set rules that the kids would have to abide by in terms of their diet? For example, what if one of the mandates was to ban all sugary, processed, junk food from being served on campus? Well, we don’t have to wonder about that because it’s being happening at an elementary school in Lithonia, Georgia since 1998.

This CNN story details the remarkable work that is happening at Browns Mill Elementary School where the children do not participate in any school fundraiser bake sales, do not celebrate birthdays of their classmates with cupcakes, never get served cookies or ice cream in the cafeteria–why? SUGAR IS NOT ALLOWED AT THE SCHOOL!

That’s right, Browns Mill Elementary School is what they call “a Sugar Free Zone.” All soda and junk food vending machines have been long removed from the campus and the cafeteria only serves real food like broccoli (the most popular veggie) and peaches for dessert. This cutting-edge concept was the brainchild of the school’s principal Dr. Yvonne Sanders-Butler.

Dr. Yvonne Sanders-Butler has the only sugar-free school in America

“We have received many positive phone calls, letters, and emails from across the country applauding the children, parents and Browns Mill Staff for doing such an outstanding job of keeping our school environment free of foods laden with sugar,” Dr. Sanders-Butler writes on the school web site.

Although this idea of cutting sugar completely out of the school is a unique one, it has actually been found in a Swedish study to effectively lower obesity rates. It’s a simple measure to take, but only Browns Mill has been willing to enact it school-wide…and with AMAZING results! There was a Florida elementary school in 2006 where the 4th graders refused to sell sugary candy for a field trip fundraiser and Veronica Atkins donated $16,000 to reward the kids for their stand. But that’s about it!

Describing childhood obesity as “our Katrina,” Dr. Sanders-Butler says she dismisses any criticism people may have for her about this decision to make Browns Mill Elementary School sugar-free because the children are worth teaching something invaluable that will benefit them long after they reach adulthood.

“If we’re really thinking about the best interests about the young people today, then we will take a stand,” she noted.

In addition to the sugar-free food policy, the kids at the school also engage in one hour of cardiovascular exercise disguised as play. From jumping jacks to just dancing around to some hip-hop music, the school gets the blood pumping early.

“When students are healthy, they do their best work,” Dr. Sanders-Butler explained. “We want to make sure we’re providing foods that will not only nourish the body, but also brain foods.”

They follow the nutritional guidelines provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as found in the U.S. Food Pyramid. Although you know how I feel about the low-fat, high-carb Food Pyramid for kids, I think it’s better to have children eating closer to optimum than allowing their diet to be dominated by junk foods that are full of sugar. And the kids seems to love it–especially the non-starchy vegetables.

“One of the most requested vegetables now is broccoli,” the principal revealed. “Can you believe that? The kids love broccoli.”

The tangible benefits started pouring in quickly after the sugar-free zone was introduced ten years ago–disciplinary incidents fell by nearly one-fourth, counseling referrals dipped 30 percent in just six months. Standardized test scores by which all public schools are measured for their performance rose 15 percent in the reading category and Browns Mill Elementary School was named a national blue ribbon school and a Georgia school of excellence in 2005.

Data has not been gathered from the school records by any researcher yet to determine if obesity rates have fallen, but I would assume they have. Even if the children resumed consuming sugar when they got home from school and on weekends, the positive impact of cutting it out for those few hours during the day had to make an impact on their weight and health that could not be ignored by caring parents. Nevertheless, the success at Browns Mill has encouraged 17 other public schools in the state of Georgia to try to follow their lead. GREAT NEWS!!!

And the long-term effect of the school going sugar-free is still being felt a decade later from a junior in college who was in the fifth grade when Dr. Sanders-Butler implemented this sudden change.

“I was one of the heavier students in elementary school, so I really lost a lot of weight and just became healthier overall with the changes,” confessed Simone Davis. “Kids were hyper, bouncing off the wall and those things changed.”

This brave decision to go sugar-free was not without controversy for Dr. Sanders-Butler, but she knew it was the right thing to do after battling obesity and a stroke at the age of 39 years old. And it seems she was way ahead of her time now that schools all across the country are removing vending and soda machines and replacing them with better alternatives. In countries like the UK, television cooking celebrity Jamie Oliver is leading the way to promote better food choices for kids attending school.

The most effective part of the sugar-free program at Browns Mill Elementary School today is probably peer pressure. Think about all the kids who have gone before in this environment where sugar is not allowed. The new children don’t know any different and just believe that’s the way things are supposed to be. So they choose to eat fruit instead of chocolate cake instead.

One kid said it best: “Junk food makes my stomach hurt.”

This is AWESOME! Kudos to Dr. Yvonne Sanders-Butler and her staff at Browns Mill Elementary School in Lithonia, Georgia. Bravo on a job well done! Keep up the GREAT work and I look forward to seeing more incredible results from this idea of cutting sugar out of your school. You might just start a national trend!