Fundraising is the primary source of revenue for student activities in Arizona. Beverage and snack sales generate as much as $50 or more per year per student. On a campus with 2,000 students, that amounts to $100,000 per year. And across the state we are talking about millions of dollars.

These student activities keep our youth occupied, teach them discipline, sportsmanship, leadership and instill a sense of worth or accomplishment.

By funding the programs with dollars we parents would spend at the convenience store, we have been able to keep our taxes and activity fees from increasing.

It has all worked well until a handful of elected officials got together this summer and decided they needed a platform to carry themselves through to the next election. A movement to ban the sale of popular snacks and beverages on school campuses has achieved great momentum at the Arizona Department of Education.

The movement is based on an ill-conceived notion that the health crisis in America can be solved without funding fitness and nutrition education.

Proponents of the ban seem to believe that kids can watch television for hours or sit in front of the computer or video game consoles and stay fit — as long as they do not eat candy or drink soda.

Clearly there is a problem in the approach. I am all for a healthy population. So, let’s keep our children active. There is a greater problem in that this movement has significant impact on funding for the programs that keep students active. This issue was explored in a CBS news report Oct 2, when it reported that many students have to pay to play in school fine arts programs such as band, choir and dance, as well as athletic programs like football and baseball. If funding continues to decline, these programs may be dropped completely or we parents will pick up the cost in increased taxes or fees.

In some communities, such a ban will ensure the elimination of programs because not all parents can afford to pay activity fees. A 2002 survey by the U.S. Center for Disease Prevention and Control found that 47 per cent of parents cite the expense as the primary reason their children do not participate in physical activity outside of school. School fundraisers are one way that campuses overcome socioeconomic factors that often impede participation in privately run programs. In good times or bad, whether poor or affluent, fundraising ensures that our children can participate.

By selling candy or buying soda out of an on-campus vending machine, students earn money that funds athletic programs, new playgrounds, scholarships, band and music programs, or pay for class trips. I am sure our elected leaders can agree these are good programs.

Our elected officials have decided to grandstand with sound bytes that are appealing but do nothing more than put a bandage on a broken bone. They blame a 1 per cent increase in caloric intake on a 10 per cent increase in childhood obesity. Apparently, that 13 per cent decline in activity is not at issue here.

The state already ensured a drop in activity level for students five years ago when it stopped paying for the construction of non-academic square footage such as fitness rooms on school campuses. Now officials want to eliminate the fundraising and on-campus vending that has helped us to overcome that burden at the local level.

Ever since the government started to limit our involvement in decisions on programming, testing, funding and school construction, our schools and our students have suffered. This will be just one more example that larger government costs the middle class taxpayer more money, while giving us less.

Dean B. Kaner of Scottsdale is member of the Arizona Fitness & Nutrition Coalition, a group of parents, teachers, coaches and community members that oppose the banning of soda and candy machines on school campuses.