ABA President and CEO Susan Neely is to formally announce the organization's policy recommendation Wednesday at the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures in Seattle.
"Childhood obesity is a real problem," Neely tells The Associated Press. "The individual companies have been doing several things to be part of the solution and there was an agreement among all of our leadership that we needed to take another step and take it as an industry."
Neely argues soft drinks aren't inherently bad but she wants parents to have the assurance that their children aren't drinking an excessive amount of sweetened drinks at school.
The association's board voted unanimously Tuesday to work with school districts to ensure that vending machines stock only bottled water and 100 percent juice in elementary schools. But most elementary schools already are soda-free, the association says.
Under the group's recommendation, middle school students would have access to additional drinks, like sports drinks, no-calorie soft drinks and low-calorie juice drinks. Middle schools could have additional machines with soft drinks and full-calorie juice drinks available for organizations that may hold meetings at the school, but the beverages couldn't be available during school hours.
High school students would have access to all types of drinks, including soda, but no more than 50 percent of the vending machine selections would be soft drinks.
"Parents tell us they'd like help in determining what products are sold in schools, and we're listening," Dawn Hudson, president and chief executive officer, Pepsi-Cola North America, says in a statement.
The association's recommendation isn't binding, but Neely says the 20-member board represents 85 percent of the bottlers involved in school vending.
