Krispy Kreme is offering to reward students with a doughnut for every “A” on their report card, but the plan seems a little flaky to some officials trying to fight childhood obesity.
Under one promotion, Krispy Kreme stores will give Palm Beach County students in kindergarten through sixth grade a free doughnut for good grades. Another program has students decorate posters of doughnuts with “success sprinkles” when children meet goals. The posters can be turned in for doughnuts.
“Krispy Kreme doughnuts are very good, especially when the ‘hot’ lights are on, but I can’t say that there’s anything healthy about them,” school board member Debra Robinson said Tuesday. “Can’t we find something else? I mean, a doughnut?”
Krispy Kreme doesn’t track how many schools are participating. Principals decide whether to allow the doughnut posters or any other business partnership, a school district spokeswoman said.
Jackie Zepeda, Krispy Kreme spokeswoman, said she was unaware of any concern about the doughnut giveaway in light of child obesity, which has been declared an epidemic by the National Institutes of Health.
The promotion comes as 50 schools in Palm Beach and Broward counties won a grant to begin a $1.4 million program to promote a healthier lifestyle with nutrition and exercise programs. The district is also offering healthier school lunch menus.