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News digest
This frequently updated news digest on the subject of Childhood Obesity highlights key articles from major journals, news publications and blogs. The digest is a free service of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. All rights reserved. Sign up to receive the digest free via email.
| May 14, 2012 |
Lawmaker: 'Pizza Is Not a Vegetable' in School Lunches The Hill “Healthwatch”, Elise Viebeck, 05/14/2012 Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) introduced a bill Monday to stop the amount of tomato paste used on a children's slice of pizza from counting as a serving of vegetables in school lunches, arguing that the standard effectively qualifies pizza as a vegetable. He said he hopes the measure can be included in this year's farm bill. |
| May 14, 2012 |
It's Time to Serve Up Some Big Incentives to Curb Obesity [Opinion] Los Angeles Times, David Lazarus, 05/14/2012 First, we should limit the marketing of fast food and junk food to kids. Young people are just not in a position to make wise choices when it comes to sweets and treats... How about a cigarette-style tax on such foods and beverages, with the proceeds going toward obesity research and wellness programs? How about higher insurance rates for the overweight, just as smokers typically pay more for health coverage? Meanwhile, there needs to be more attention paid to giving people healthful choices. This means incentives to encourage supermarkets and produce stores to open in lower-income neighborhoods, and perhaps subsidies to lower the price of organic fruits and vegetables. |
| May 14, 2012 |
No Single Answer on Obesity [Editorial] Lincoln Journal Star, 05/14/2012 In order for America to reverse the dangerously unhealthy trend toward obesity, it’s going to take action on multiple fronts. That was the takeaway message from the report released last week by the Institute of Medicine. Editor’s Note: This report was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. |
| May 14, 2012 |
First Lady Has Plan to Get Kids Involved in Sports Associated Press, Dave Skretta, 05/14/2012 The first lady is partnering with the U.S. Olympic Committee, the Partnership for a Healthier America, U.S. Paralympics and numerous national governing bodies that have pledged their time and resources toward introducing young people to their sports over the course of the summer. |
| May 13, 2012 |
Communities Want You to Break Out Your Walking Shoes MetroWest Daily News, Brian Benson, 05/13/2012 WalkBoston, through a grant from the MetroWest Health Foundation is working with officials in Franklin, Northborough and Milford to identify walkable areas and map out routes that show the distance and time to walk between shops, historical landmarks, schools and other destinations. |
| May 13, 2012 |
Bikeways Pedal into New Areas in Long Beach Long Beach Press Telegram, Greg Mellen, 05/13/2012 In its continuing quest to be the "bike friendliest" city, Long Beach hopes to extend its pedal-pushing mission to west and north portions of the city. |
| May 11, 2012 |
Battling the Bulge: Valley View Elementary Gets Kids Moving Battle Creek Enquirer, Justin A. Hinkley, 05/11/2012 The latest Community Report Card from the Coordinating Council of Calhoun County said 17 percent of middle schoolers, 16 percent of high schoolers and 38 percent of local adults were obese in 2009. To combat that, Valley View’s Mileage Club invites students to walk or run quarter-mile laps at recess and earn punches in foot-shaped mileage cards. Every five miles, kids get a toe-shaped token that they can collect for prizes such as T-shirts, water bottles and more. |
| May 11, 2012 |
A Need for New Thinking in Attacking our Weight Problem [Editorial] The Washington Post, Editorial Board, 05/11/2012 In the Journal of Preventive Medicine on Monday, health-policy experts estimated that 42 percent of American adults will be obese in 2030. That’s a 9-point drop from an earlier projection. Forgive us if we don’t cheer at the prospect of adding 32 million to the total number of Americans who are dozens of pounds too heavy, a count that stood in 2010 at 78 million. It’s not easy to transform deeply ingrained habits and attitudes, particularly given humans’ biological predisposition to gobble calories and remain at rest. But as a National Academy of Sciences report released on Tuesday indicates, there are policies worth trying. Like the battle against tobacco, the fight against obesity might be a slow, hard campaign in changing minds and behaviors. But it is no less important. |
| May 11, 2012 |
Watching TV Steers Children Toward Eating Junk Time, Alice Park, 05/11/2012 What you see is what you eat, according to the latest study to confirm that TV viewing encourages children to eat more junk food. But the researchers say there may be an easy way to counter unhealthy snacking in front of the tube, simply by putting healthier foods within easy reach. Leah Lipsky and Ronal Iannotti, staff scientists at the Eunice Kennedy Shrive National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, report that for every hour of television children watch, they are 8% less likely to eat fruit every day, 18% more likely to eat candy, and 16% more likely to eat fast food. |
| May 10, 2012 |
WIC Works, But Enrollment Is Down The New York Times, KJ Dell'Antonia, 05/10/2012 The Special Supplemental Nutritional Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) provides nutrient-rich foods and nutritional counseling to those who need it. Ideally, participation in the WIC program alleviates some of the economic and the emotional stress on parents. That, theorized a group of researchers from a variety of institutions (including the University of Maryland and Boston University Schools of Medicine), should mean healthier parents and healthier children — and according to their research, reported in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, it did. |
| May 9, 2012 |
Eating, Pedaling, Walking Toward Longer Life [Editorial] Cleveland Plain Dealer, 05/09/2012 Fortunately, many Northeast Ohio residents seem eager to unite to battle the bulge. No one initiative or conference or slogan will be enough, but making this issue a priority can lead to a healthier region. |
| May 9, 2012 |
U.S. Government Urged to Fight Fat at School Reuters, Susan Heavey, 05/09/2012 A coalition of health advocacy groups on Wednesday urged the U.S. government to put more resources into school-based efforts to improve health and fight obesity among youth. The recommendations by the Healthy Schools Campaign and Trust for America's Health were backed by more than 70 groups including the American Cancer Society and the National Education Association. |
| May 9, 2012 |
'Safe Routes,' Founded In Marin, Receives National Recognition for Fighting Obesity Marin Independent Journal, Mark Prado, 05/09/2012 Fairfax-based Safe Routes to Schools was one of six groups in the nation to receive the Centers for Disease Control's Pioneering Innovation Award for its work toward preventing and controlling obesity. "This really is recognition for Marin which got the pilot program going," said Fairfax resident Deb Hubsmith, director of the Safe Routes to School National Partnership. Editor’s Note: The Safe Routes to School National Partnership is a grantee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. |
| May 9, 2012 |
USDA Is Spending Millions to Give Farmers Markets Technology to Accept Food Stamps, Serve More Associated Press, 05/09/2012 The federal government is spending $4 million to help hook up farmers and low-income customers. Currently, fewer than a quarter of the nation’s roughly 7,100 farmers markets are set up to use the Electronic Benefit Transfer system, or food stamps. But Kathleen Merrigan, deputy secretary of agriculture, said she hopes these grants will bring another 4,000 of those outlets on line with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. |
| May 8, 2012 |
Big Changes Coming on Portland School Menus Portland Forecaster, Amber Cronin, 05/08/2012 City schools are expected to be healthier places in September when new nutrition policies, approved by the School Board last month, take effect. The new policies, some of which have been in development for five years, represent a change in the way schools around the country feed students and teach them about nutrition. While the changes may be drastic at some schools, they represent something the Portland Public Schools have been doing for several years. |
| May 8, 2012 |
Bans on School Junk Food Pay Off in California New York Times, Anahad O’Connor, 05/08/2012 Five years after California started cracking down on junk food in school cafeterias, a new report shows that high school students there consume fewer calories and less fat and sugar at school than students in other states. The findings suggest that state policies can be successful to some extent in influencing the eating habits of teenagers. |
| May 8, 2012 |
Obesity Fight Must Shift From Personal Blame: U.S. Panel Reuters, Sharon Begley, 05/08/2012 America's obesity epidemic is so deeply rooted that it will take dramatic and systemic measures - from overhauling farm policies and zoning laws to, possibly, introducing a soda tax - to fix it, the influential Institute of Medicine said on Tuesday. Editor’s Note: This report was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. |
| May 8, 2012 |
New Weight Loss Plan for U.S. Obesity Crisis WebMD Health News, Daniel J. DeNoon, 05/08/2012 Obesity in America is a crisis that threatens national security -- and urgent action is needed, says the Institute of Medicine. The IOM's plan: Totally change the way Americans approach exercise and nutrition. |
| May 7, 2012 |
What HBO And iCarly Can Do To Get Kids Psyched About Veggies NPR “The Salt”, Allison Aubrey, 05/07/2012 HBO is… working to get 100 salad bars up and running in selected schools across the nation by September... Another healthy campaign being launched this week is also a vegetable-eating one. Who better to convince kids and tweens that eating vegetables is cool than the stars of Nickelodeon's iCarly? That's the plan Birds Eye announced as part of a commitment announced by the Partnership for a Healthier America (The group formed to oversee private sector commitments to the First Lady's Let's Move campaign.) The company says it will spend at least $2 million per year for each of the next three years to market and advertise this campaign on Nickelodeon and other outlets. Editor’s Note: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is one of six founding members of the Partnership for a Healthier America, along with The California Endowment, Kaiser Permanente, Nemours, W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. |
| May 7, 2012 |
Obesity Could Affect 42% of Americans by 2030 USA Today, Nanci Hellmich, 05/07/2012 If Americans continue to pack on pounds, 42% may end up obese by 2030, and 11% could be severely obese, adding billions of dollars to health care costs, according to new projections released today… If the obesity rate stays at 2010 levels instead of rising to 42% as predicted, then the country could save more than $549.5 billion in weight-related medical expenditures between now and 2030, says study co-author Justin Trogdon. Editor’s Note: Rebecca Puhl from the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity is interviewed in this article. The Rudd Center is a grantee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. |
| May 5, 2012 |
War on Smoking Offers Some Lessons for Obesity Fight Kaiser Health News, Judith Graham, 05/05/2012 Efforts to reduce smoking didn’t really have much success until advocates shifted their emphasis from changing individual behavior to community-based activism and holding cigarette manufacturers accountable for harmful products, [Stanton Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco] said. A similar shift is needed today in the fight against America’s expanding waistlines, many experts believe. Instead of approaching obesity as a personal issue, it needs to be redefined as a community challenge that calls for collective action and wide-ranging policy changes such as more informative food labels, limits on marketing to children, and taxes on unhealthy products, they argue. |
| May 3, 2012 |
Children Who Are Fit Tend To Do Better on Standardized Tests, Study Says New Orleans Times-Picayune, Barri Bronston, 05/03/2012 Students with cardiovascular fitness tend to score higher on standardized tests, according to a report released by the Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The report says that students with cardiovascular fitness may score up to 5 percent higher on standardized tests than children who are classified as unfit. |
| May 3, 2012 |
Food Stamps Could Use Fresh Options [Opinion] Politico, Jason Ackerman, 05/03/2012 A provision in the Senate farm bill, now making its way through the legislative process, would launch a pilot program to test and eventually give recipients of SNAP benefits the same access as every other American to online grocery retailers. More food stamp recipients then would be able to purchase fresh, healthful and quality food. |
| May 3, 2012 |
Set to Give the Boot to Childhood Obesity Buffalo News, Deirdre Williams, 05/03/2012 Roughly 1,000 students in 10 Buffalo public elementary schools this fall will be able to participate in an after- school, sports-based youth development program that uses athletics as a tool to combat childhood obesity and provides nutrition education and mentorship to children living in at-risk communities. |
| May 2, 2012 |
Study Finds Direct Link Between Obesity, Heart Disease HealthDay, 05/02/2012 A large new study is the first to show a direct link between a high body-mass index and the risk of developing heart disease, British and Danish researchers say. |
| May 1, 2012 |
In Childhood Obesity, a Growing Socioeconomic Gap Washington Post “Wonkblog”, Sarah Kliff, 05/01/2012 There’s actually been some good news on obesity in recent years. After years of steady increases, new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data has suggested that rates are beginning to plateau, if not decline slightly. That data, however, looks like it might be masking a troubling trend: A growing socioeconomic disparity in obesity rates, with most prevention gains being made among higher earners. |
| May 1, 2012 |
President's Fitness Council Launches Video-Game Health Challenge Education Week “Schooled in Sports”, Bryan Toporek, 05/01/2012 On Monday, alongside U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition (PCFSN) and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced the launch of the Active Play Presidential Lifestyle Award (PALA)+ Challenge, which encourages all Americans to track the physical activity they log while playing video games. |
| May 1, 2012 |
Study: Most Kentuckians Think Childhood Obesity Is a Problem in the State Lexington Herald-Leader, Cheryl Truman, 05/01/2012 The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky released a poll Monday that said an overwhelming majority of Kentuckians think childhood obesity is a problem. |
| May 1, 2012 |
National Physical Education and Sport Week Off and Running Education Week “Schooled in Sports”, Bryan Toporek, 05/01/2012 Students across the U.S. will be getting away from their desks for a few minutes this week in honor of National Physical Education and Sport Week (NPESW), an initiative of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education. |
| May 1, 2012 |
What Will Make the Food Desert Bloom? NPR, Dan Charles, 05/01/2012 There's a battle for better health going on in poor neighborhoods across the country, and part of that battle involves getting people living in so-called food deserts access to healthy food. But as many activists have learned, it takes a combination of access, innovation, and education to change peoples' habits for the better. Editor’s Note: The Food Trust, whose work is described in this story, is a grantee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.There's a battle for better health going on in poor neighborhoods across the country, and part of that battle involves getting people living in so-called food deserts access to healthy food. But as many activists have learned, it takes a combination of access, innovation, and education to change peoples' habits for the better. Editor’s Note: The Food Trust, whose work is described in this story, is a grantee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. |
| Apr 30, 2012 |
Across Delaware, New Ways to Push Wellness Delaware News Journal, Kelly April Tyrrell, 04/30/2012 “Once Upon a Trail” was recently unveiled by New Castle County, Nemours Health & Prevention Services and the Department of Public Health at an event to announce Live Healthy New Castle County. The new initiative joins a growing number of wellness programs across the state, including Healthy Kids Delaware and Sussex Outdoors, designed to help make Delaware healthier – to prevent chronic disease, make fitness more accessible, increase access to healthy foods and help all residents take an active role in their well-being. |
| Apr 30, 2012 |
Knoxville Named 'Let's Move City' to Combat Child Obesity Knoxville News, Kristi L. Nelson, 04/30/2012 Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero announced Monday that Knoxville is officially a "Let's Move City," one of nine Tennessee cities to be part of first lady Michelle Obama's national initiative to eradicate childhood obesity within a generation. |
| Apr 30, 2012 |
Salad Bars Sprouting Up in City School Cafeterias Baltimore Sun, Erica L. Green, 04/30/2012 Until this year, the only items that resembled produce on Blessin Giraldo's school lunch tray were berry-flavored Popsicles and Fruit Roll-Ups. But now, the Baltimore eighth-grader's tray features beds of greens and fruits and vegetables that are available at her middle school through a salad bar option that is sprouting up in school cafeterias around the city. |
| Apr 30, 2012 |
'Weight of the Nation' Documentary Explores Costs of Obesity USA Today, Nanci Hellmich, 04/30/2012 John Hoffman isn't a doctor. He doesn't even play one on TV. But come May 14, he'll unveil a diagnosis, of sorts, for dealing with obesity as executive producer of The Weight of the Nation, a new four-part HBO documentary. The production, done in conjunction with the Institute of Medicine, which provides independent advice on health, features dozens of top experts exploring the causes and solutions for obesity in the USA. |
| Apr 30, 2012 |
Study: Obesity Adds $190 Billion in Health Costs Reuters, 04/30/2012 The nation’s rising rate of obesity has been well-chronicled. But businesses, governments and individuals are only now coming to grips with the costs of those extra pounds, many of which are even greater than believed only a few years ago: The additional medical spending due to obesity is double previous estimates and exceeds even those of smoking, a new study shows. |
| Apr 29, 2012 |
New Orleans Students Jump Rope for Fun and Fitness New Orleans Times-Picayune, Annette Sisco, 04/29/2012 After five days of standardized tests, students at Benjamin Banneker Elementary School were a little jumpy. Luckily for them, jumping is part of Banneker’s curriculum. At the school in New Orleans’ Black Pearl neighborhood, boys and girls from kindergarten to eighth grade skip rope in twice-weekly physical education classes that also include other exercises and a wellness program called Healthy Lifestyle Choices. |
| Apr 29, 2012 |
TV Ads May Play Role in Underage Drinking, Obesity HealthDay, Mary Elizabeth Dallas, 04/29/2012 Kids who recognize fast-food advertisements on TV are more likely to be overweight, and those familiar with TV ads for alcoholic beverages are more likely to drink, according to two new studies from Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. |
| Apr 29, 2012 |
Obesity-Linked Diabetes in Children Resists Treatment New York Times, Denise Grady, 04/29/2012 Obesity and the form of diabetes linked to it are taking an even worse toll on America’s youths than medical experts had realized. As obesity rates in children have climbed, so has the incidence of Type 2 diabetes, and a new study adds another worry: the disease progresses more rapidly in children than in adults and is harder to treat. |
| Apr 28, 2012 |
A Food Stamp Paradox: Starving Isn't the Issue — It's Access to Nutritious Foods Deseret News, Eric Schulzke, 04/28/2012 Since 2006, the USDA has dropped the term "hunger" in favor of "food insecurity," a more complicated and accurate concept. The change aims at better scientific precision, according to USDA officials. But it also serves to highlight complicated links between poverty, nutrition, obesity and overall well-being. |
| Apr 27, 2012 |
Food Safety on Hold [Editorial] New York Times, 04/27/2012 There are now three important food issues on hold. And health and nutrition advocates worry that they are stalled for the election season, or longer, because of pushback from the food industry. |
| Apr 27, 2012 |
How Washington Went Soft on Childhood Obesity Reuters, Duff Wilson and Janet Roberts, 04/27/2012 At every level of government, the food and beverage industries won fight after fight during the last decade. They have never lost a significant political battle in the United States despite mounting scientific evidence of the role of unhealthy food and children's marketing in obesity. |
| Apr 27, 2012 |
Madera Schools Start Healthy Living Program Fresno Bee, 04/27/2012 [The “Healthy Eating Active Living” program] offers students a healthy alternative to sodas and other sugary drinks with portable water stations and water bottles, classroom lessons focusing on healthier living and a monthly newsletter sent home to parents. The portable water stations are carts with water tanks that can be easily moved between the cafeteria and playgrounds during recess and lunch. The three-year, $1 million program, a Kaiser Permanente initiative, will conclude with permanent water stations added on campus. |
| Apr 27, 2012 |
Chicago Food Deserts Get 5 New Farmers Markets Associated Press, 04/27/2012 Five Chicago neighborhoods will get new farmers markets starting this summer. Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the neighborhoods Thursday. They will be located in areas that have limited grocery options, known as food deserts. |
| Apr 27, 2012 |
Soft Drinks: Public Enemy No.1 in Obesity Fight? CNN News, 4/27/2012, 04/27/2012 A 20-ounce regular soda contains 227 calories, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). That single drink is more than 10% of the total calories an adult woman needs to maintain a healthy weight, according to USDA diet guidelines. Meanwhile, about 1 in 4 Americans gets at least 200 calories a day from sugary drinks. These numbers… give ammunition to doctors and public health officials who say soda should be treated as public health enemy No. 1. |
| Apr 26, 2012 |
'Ew' Turns to 'Yum' in Minneapolis School Lunch Lines Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Steve Brandt, 04/26/2012 Students will get wider choices and fresher ingredients, more of them from regional farmers. They'll get more real vegetables -- squash and sweet potatoes, spinach and broccoli -- instead of constant French fries. The district is looking for land for an urban farm that will educate students about what they eat. But the proof is in the eating, and judging by student reaction at Washburn High School, where… staff are testing menus they'll be adding next year, they've hit the mark. |
| Apr 26, 2012 |
New Snack Guidelines Adopted for Kids Poughkeepsie Journal, 04/26/2012 Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County’s Healthy Kingston for Kids initiative and Creating Healthy Places to Live, Work and Play project announced it will participate in the Healthy After-school Snack Guidelines being implemented in Ulster County schools. |
| Apr 25, 2012 |
Time to Revisit Food Deserts [Opinion] New York Times “Opinionater”, David Bornstein, 04/25/2012 I’m still convinced that convenient access to fresh food remains a significant barrier for many low-income people around the country, but I have been persuaded that the standard way “food deserts” have been defined may overemphasize — and in some cases mischaracterize — the problem of access and draw attention from other factors that influence what people buy and eat, like food prices, preparation time and knowledge, marketing, general levels of education, transportation, cultural practices and taste. Editor’s Note: Some of the research mentioned in this piece was supported by RWJF, including a study showing that greater access to supermarkets is associated with lower body mass index (funded through the national research program Bridging the Gap), and an upcoming report from the Institute of Medicine called “Accelerating Progress in Childhood Obesity Prevention.” |
| Apr 24, 2012 |
Sugary Cereal: Breakfast Candy or Obesity Cure? [Opinion] The Atlantic, Margo Wootan and David Ludwig, 04/24/2012 Instead of lobbying to keep marketing breakfast candy to kids, cereal and other companies should work with the Obama administration on sensible food marketing guidelines for children. The companies should also do considerably more to improve the nutritional quality of the cereals and other foods they market to children. Our children's health depends on it. Editor’s Note: The two Yale University studies referenced in this article were produced by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. |
| Apr 24, 2012 |
ShopRite to Benefit from New Groceries Initiative Vineland Daily Journal, Stephanie Loder, 04/24/2012 The planned Bottino’s ShopRite will be the first of several new supermarkets in the state to break ground with the help of financing efforts specifically geared to bring groceries to areas designated as “food deserts.” The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is providing an initial $12 million for an initiative to bring affordable fresh food to an estimated 1 million people statewide where studies have shown the grocery gap contributes to high rates of childhood obesity in children as well as hypertension and diabetes. |
| Apr 23, 2012 |
Schools Find Active Kids Make Smarter Students Minneapolis Star Tribune, Herón Márquez Estrada, 04/23/2012 When students at Meadowview Elementary in Farmington needed to improve their reading scores last fall, they were turned over to physical education teacher Joe McCarthy. Each morning for months, McCarthy had the students spend 15 minutes running or shuttling from side to side in the gym. It wasn't any type of punishment, but part of a growing trend in education that focuses on increased physical activity to improve learning. The students were selected based on their scores on fall state assessments. When the kids took the tests again earlier this year, after McCarthy's exercise regimen, they showed the greatest improvement of any students at Meadowview, double the school average, McCarthy said. |
| Apr 23, 2012 |
Obesity Rates Down for Infants, Toddlers Boston Globe, Deborah Kotz, 04/23/2012 After a three-decade tripling in childhood obesity rates, the trend has leveled off and, for the first time, appears to be on a substantial decline - at least among Massachusetts infants and preschoolers, according to a study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics. |
| Apr 20, 2012 |
Let's Get Back to Our Gardens [Editorial] Houston Chronicle, 04/20/2012 In poorer neighborhoods across Houston, vacant lots cry out to be used for urban farming. As Scott Howard, vice chair of Houston's Urban Harvest, told lawmakers, Texas ranks dead last among the states in encouraging these efforts. That, as Howard says, is an embarrassment. |
| Apr 20, 2012 |
A Healthy Breakfast [Editorial] New York Times, 04/20/2012 When it comes to making certain that children start the school day with a good breakfast, New York City could learn a lot from Newark, Detroit and Los Angeles. Administrators there are helping children in need — 10 million in the country — get a healthy breakfast at their desks. |
| Apr 19, 2012 |
Rossview Elementary to Unveil New Walking Track Rossview Leaf-Chronicle, Tavia D. Green, 04/19/2012 “The idea for the walking track came about three years ago,” said Abby Binkley, physical education teacher. “We have a large back field and wanted a place to be able to take the students outside to get some physical activity. The track seemed like the best fit. It can be used during the day, to benefit our students during PE and recess, and during non-school hours, it can be used by the community.” The construction of the track began in February and was recently completed. |
| Apr 19, 2012 |
With Classroom Breakfasts, a Concern That Some Children Eat Twice New York Times, Michael Grynbaum, 04/19/2012 It is an innovative, intuitive and increasingly common way to ensure that food reaches the mouths of hungry children from low-income families: give out free breakfast in the classroom at the start of each school day. The results, seen at urban districts across the country, are striking. Without the stigma of a trip to the cafeteria, the number of students in Newark who eat breakfast in school has tripled. |
| Apr 19, 2012 |
Think Carrots, Not Candy as School Snack, Group Suggests Reuters, Susan Heavey, 04/19/2012 Junk food may soon be hard to buy at American public schools as the U.S. government readies new rules requiring healthier foods to be sold beyond the cafeteria - a move most parents support, according to a poll released on Thursday. With childhood obesity rising, the survey found most people agreed the chips, soda and candy bars students buy from vending machines or school stores in addition to breakfast and lunch are not nutritious, and they support a national standard for foods sold at schools. |
| Apr 18, 2012 |
County Effort Helps Convenience Get Healthier Vancouver Columbian, Andrea Dearwood, 04/18/2012 In central Vancouver, long marked as the area’s largest food desert, half of residents are within a half-mile of only unhealthy food sources. In response, Clark County’s Chronic Disease Prevention Department is hoping its Healthy Neighborhood Store program can help make some changes… The county program, funded by grants from Kaiser Permanente and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will help stores transform their stock by providing tips, signs and posters. The merchant is in charge of purchasing and selling the foods, without any subsidy from government. |
| Apr 18, 2012 |
Conquering Food Deserts With Green Carts [Opinion] New York Times, David Bornstein, 04/18/2012 When we think of a “desert,” we don’t picture southwest Philadelphia or a small town in upstate New York. But that’s the description given to areas of the United States that lack ready access to healthy food — like fresh fruits and vegetables. These grocery-store deprived zones have come to be known as “food deserts” and the federal government estimates that they are home to millions of Americans (pdf), including more than 23 million people who live in low-income neighborhoods that are more than a mile from a supermarket. |
| Apr 17, 2012 |
Studies Question the Pairing of Food Deserts and Obesity New York Times, Gina Kolata, 04/17/2012 It has become an article of faith among some policy makers and advocates, including Michelle Obama, that poor urban neighborhoods are food deserts, bereft of fresh fruits and vegetables. But two new studies have found something unexpected. Such neighborhoods not only have more fast food restaurants and convenience stores than more affluent ones, but more grocery stores, supermarkets and full-service restaurants, too. And there is no relationship between the type of food being sold in a neighborhood and obesity among its children and adolescents. |
| Apr 17, 2012 |
How Money Factors Into The War On Obesity HealthyState.org, Farah Dosani, 04/17/2012 Medicare covers treatment for diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. All are costly to the health care system – and all often have their roots in a larger problem. The Medicare program recently announced it is now covering obesity screening and counseling by primary care providers – doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Many herald the move as a paradigm shift. Until eight years ago, Medicare said obesity was not a disease. |
| Apr 17, 2012 |
Green Carts Put Fresh Produce Where the People Are Washington Post, Jane Black, 04/17/2012 On the busy commercial strip along Knickerbocker Avenue in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood are all the shops one might expect to find in a poor area branded a “food desert”: two 99-cent stores, a check-cashing center and plenty of pizza and fried chicken joints. But thanks to Alfonso Victor and Elena Ferreira, there’s also an oasis of fresh fruits and vegetables… [They] are two of more than 500 vendors who participate in New York’s Green Cart program, which puts fruit and vegetable carts on the streets in low-income areas with high rates of obesity and diet-related diseases. |
| Apr 17, 2012 |
More Healthy Options Are on School Cafeteria Menus Houston Chronicle, Lindsay Peyton, 04/17/2012 Lunches in the Cy-Fair Independent School District are shaping up, as coordinators and dieticians work together to create new menus that provide plenty of healthy options and meet increasingly strict federal guidelines. |
| Apr 16, 2012 |
St. Tammany Parish School System Wins National Award for Nutrition New Orleans Times-Picayune, Jim Derry, 04/16/2012 The St. Tammany Parish school system won honorable mention in the American School Board Journal's Magna Awards program for its "student wellness initiative and nutrition education efforts." "Competing in the over 20,000 enrollment category, St. Tammany was recognized for its efforts over the past several years to improve food quality, give students greater opportunities for physical activity, and provide classroom instruction on healthy lifestyles," a release from ASBJ said Friday. |
| Apr 15, 2012 |
Do We Need More Advice About Eating Well? [Opinion] New York Times “Room for Debate”, Jane Black, Raj Patel, Will Allen, Marion Nestle and Yael Lehmann, 04/15/2012 Does the American public need more information about healthy eating? Or do we pretty much know what we need to about food — and still eat poorly for other reasons, like living in a “food desert” or being too busy for “slow food”? Editor’s Note: Yael Lehmann is the executive director of the Food Trust, a grantee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. |
| Apr 14, 2012 |
Safe Routes to School Holds Events at Two Local Elementary Schools Carlsbad Current-Argus, Marlin Smith, 04/14/2012 Following its groundbreaking in October 2011, the Carlsbad Safe Routes to School infrastructure is now in full swing, holding events at two local elementary schools last week. Safe Routes to School Coordinator Ron Mayberry said nine local students are signed up for the Walking School Bus Program from Joe Stanley Smith Elementary and 37 from Craft Elementary. |
| Apr 14, 2012 |
Nashville's Obesity Fight in the Spotlight The Tennessean, Jessica Bliss, 04/14/2012 Last April, an HBO documentary film crew came to Music City to cover Mayor Karl Dean’s Walk 100 Miles campaign and numerous other city-wide efforts to improve citizens’ health. Footage captured during that shoot is featured in The Weight of the Nation, a four-part series by HBO Documentary Films that will air May 14 and 15 on HBO. |
| Apr 14, 2012 |
Food Deserts Exist in Supermarket-Resplendent Fort Collins Fort Collins Coloradoan, Bobby Magill, 04/14/2012 Sitting just outside Fort Collins city limits, the Collins Aire Park is a low-income neighborhood about a half-mile from the nearest TransFort bus stop and exactly 2.3 miles from Walmart, the nearest grocery store… Food deserts are about food insecurity, places where people who are just scraping by may have an extraordinarily difficult time scraping a healthy meal together. They're places where it may be more convenient and less expensive for people who don't have access to transportation to visit McDonald's or Loaf n' Jug for dinner than to get to a grocery store farther away, where they can buy fresh food. |
| Apr 13, 2012 |
Wellington Will Be an Island Unto Itself with No Supermarket Fort Collins Coloradoan, Bobby Magill, 04/13/2012 Wellington may soon find itself in a food desert-like position when its Main Street Market closes its doors in May. When the last fresh food is rung up at the store, Wellington will be the second-largest and most isolated municipality of more than 6,000 people in Colorado with no supermarket. To compare, the largest city in Colorado without a supermarket is Frederick, where the city center is 1.8 miles away from a Safeway store in Firestone. Next month, Wellington's nearest grocery store, the King Soopers Marketplace on North College Avenue in Fort Collins, will be 9.7 miles away. |
| Apr 12, 2012 |
Memphis City Schools Nutritionist Geraci Turns School Meals Focus to Locally Grown Foods Memphis Daily News, Aisling Maki, 04/12/2012 The days of mystery meat, syrupy fruit cups and rubbery cheese pizza are a thing of the past at Memphis City Schools Nutrition Services, where, each school day, 20,000 salads are prepared from scratch using fresh, locally grown, mixed field greens. In cafeterias across the city, school children are eating – and seemingly enjoying – kale, radishes and sweet potatoes, as well as vegetable stir fries, pasta marina seasoned with fresh garden herbs and whole wheat rolls baked from scratch. |
| Apr 12, 2012 |
Virginia Legislation Calls For School P.E. Guidelines Associated Press, 04/12/2012 Pediatrician groups and other health advocates are claiming a small victory in their efforts to press for physical education in Virginia’s public schools. Gov. Bob McDonnell is expected to sign into law legislation that would require the state Board of Education to develop guidelines to incorporate P.E. in Virginia’s elementary and middle schools, a small step in a wider attempt to combat the childhood obesity epidemic. It’s expected to pass both chambers next week and become law. |
| Apr 12, 2012 |
San Antonio SPARK to Transform Playgrounds into Fitness Parks KENS 5 San Antonio, Wendy Rigby, 04/12/2012 City Council has partnered with San Antonio Sports to launch SPARK parks, a program that beefs up school playgrounds and turns them into fitness parks the whole community can use. |
| Apr 12, 2012 |
5 Schools Win Health Honors from USDA Berkshire Eagle, Jenn Smith, 04/12/2012 At Kittredge Elementary School, students sing songs about vegetables, they have a small rock climbing wall in their gymnasium, and they willingly serve themselves salad at lunch time. Even the school nurse sends home packets of healthy eating and exercising tips. So, though it brought a great deal of excitement to the school, it was no surprise that Kittredge was one of five schools in Central Berkshire Regional School District to be presented with a national award for excellence in health, nutrition and fitness on Wednesday. |
| Apr 11, 2012 |
New Program Promotes Bicycling to Kids Knoxville News Sentinel, Rebecca D. Williams, 04/11/2012 Once a week for seven weeks, children from local after-school programs will ride brand-new trail bikes provided by the East Tennessee Children's Hospital-led Coalition on Childhood Obesity, through a $25,000 grant from Ronald McDonald House Charities. The grant paid for 45 bicycles and a trailer to store them in. Each child will receive a helmet, water bottle and bike lock to keep. After learning about bike and helmet safety at Safety City in Knoxville, the children will hit area trails and greenways in the coming weeks. |
| Apr 10, 2012 |
64 Calories a Day: What Kids Need to Cut to Reverse the Obesity Trend Time “Healthland”, Bonnie Rochman, 04/10/2012 Sixty-four calories is about four ounces of apple juice or a quarter of an oatmeal raisin walnut CLIF bar. It’s also the number of calories U.S. kids need to trim from their daily diet if they’re going to meet the federal goals for slashing obesity by 2020. Editor’s Note: This study was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. |
| Apr 10, 2012 |
Obesity Linked to Neighborhood Features: Do You Live in a Fat Neighborhood? ABC News, Kim Carollo, 04/10/2012 Where you live may determine your child's weight, according to a series of new studies published this week. In a special issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers from the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom used geographic information systems (GIS) to look at how features of neighborhoods children live and play in affect their health. What they found is that characteristics of the neighborhoods children live in could be contributing to the high rate of obesity in the U.S. and elsewhere. Editor’s Note: This special issue was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. |
| Apr 9, 2012 |
Fast Food Chains in Cafeterias Put Hospitals in a Bind NPR “The Salt”, Elana Gordon, 04/09/2012 On one side of a wall inside the Truman Medical Center cafeteria in Kansas City, Missouri, the menu features low-calorie, low-fat and low-sodium meals. On the other side of the wall is a McDonald's, featuring hamburgers and french fries. The pairing is a sore point for hospital CEO John Bluford who, as chair last year of the American Hospital Association, issued a call to action urging hospitals to eliminate unhealthy food in cafeterias as one way to create a culture of wellness. |
| Apr 9, 2012 |
Nonprofit Founded by TV's Dr. Oz Seeks to Get City's Youths off Couches, into Fitness Sacramento Bee, Jennifer Garza, 04/09/2012 [HealthCorps], named and modeled after the Peace Corps, consists of young adults – future doctors and public health workers – who work with schools to develop programs that fit the community. The organization, which has an $8 million budget, is funded through corporate and individual donations. The program promotes nutrition, fitness and mental strength. Curriculum includes field trips to organic farms, the creation of community gardens, yoga and Zumba workouts, and health education. |
| Apr 9, 2012 |
Vineland Trying to Improve Children’s Health as 44 Percent Are Overweight or Obese Press of Atlantic City, Diane D’Amico, 04/09/2012 Nearly 44 percent of children ages 3 to 19 in the city are overweight or obese, according to a 2010 report by the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy. A team of educators and health officials are working with schools, families and downtown businesses to help reverse the trend as part of a national effort to reduce childhood obesity. Vineland is one of five cities in the state participating in the New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids study to determine what contributes to children being overweight, what can be done to improve exercise and eating habits, and whether efforts to provide more playgrounds and healthier food will have any effect. |
| Apr 8, 2012 |
Why Alabama Can't Keep the Weight Off Anniston Star, Tim Lockette, 04/08/2012 Everybody knows what causes an individual person to gain weight. If you eat more and exercise less, you get fat. Or, at least, you get fatter than you were. But that doesn’t explain why millions of people are consuming more calories, and failing to exercise, all at the same time. Or why the South leads the way in this epidemic. |
| Apr 8, 2012 |
Knox County Residents: We’re Fatter and More Sedentary Galesburg Register-Mail, Stephen Dibenedetto, 04/08/2012 Knox County residents are more obese, less physically active and have less access to health insurance than in 2010, according to an annual national health survey, which ranked the county this year in the bottom half in overall health among all 102 Illinois counties. |
| Apr 8, 2012 |
'Food Deserts' Leave Poor Searching for Nutrition Associated Press, 04/08/2012 For thousands of people living in Northwest Indiana and Chicago's south suburbs, restricted access to nutritious, high-quality food is prevalent. The number of convenience stores or fast-food restaurants selling prepackaged and high-fat, high-salt prepared foods are far more plentiful and easier to get to than grocery stores or supermarkets. There are about 86,000 people, or more than 11 percent of the population, who live in areas of Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties where there is poor access to a supermarket or grocery store, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. |
| Apr 5, 2012 |
Souhegan High School Vending Healthy Choices Over Junk Amherst Patch, Robert Michaelson, 04/05/2012 Chips and candy are nowhere to be found in this nutrition-friendly vending machine. The Souhegan School Nutrition Department has completed the installation of a new refrigerated vending machine that distributes meals and healthy snacks using student lunch accounts. |
| Apr 5, 2012 |
Healthier Eating Starts on the Roof New York Times, Alison Gregor, 04/05/2012 Opportunities for urban gardening are growing as developers, particularly those building subsidized housing, provide land or roof space for herb and vegetable gardens. |
| Apr 5, 2012 |
Lawsuit that Challenged McDonald’s Happy Meals Dismissed by California Judge Associated Press, 04/05/2012 Children in California will still be able to get toys with their Happy Meals. A San Francisco judge has dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit that sought to stop McDonald’s Corp. from using toys to market its meals to children in the Golden State. |
| Apr 5, 2012 |
Schools Summit Focuses on Health Education News Colorado, Rebecca Jones, 04/05/2012 The scales measuring the obesity epidemic that is devastating the nation’s health – especially its future health – may ever so slightly be tipping back in the right direction, one of the nation’s leading public health advocates reports… “There’s no one specific initiative that has led to these results,” Dr. James Marks, senior vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, told participants in the Colorado Legacy Foundation’s Healthy Schools Summit on Wednesday. “But the culture has changed. It’s due to many small changes that are adding up.” |
| Apr 4, 2012 |
Kids Need Access to Choices That Will Keep Them Healthy [Opinion] The Tennessean, Don W. Morgan, 04/04/2012 As highlighted in the introduction to a 2011 report by the Trust for America’s Health, reversing the obesity epidemic is a defining opportunity for our generation to improve the health of future generations of Tennessee citizens. To achieve this goal, all of us — individuals, families, schools, communities, businesses and government — must work together to find ways to make healthier choices more accessible to young people. Editor’s Note: The report mentioned here was produced by Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. |
| Apr 4, 2012 |
Getting Access to Fresh Foods; Two Farmers Markets in Red Bluff Will Take EBT Cards Redding Record Searchlight, Janet O’Neill, 04/04/2012 Starting in June, low-income residents will be able to use their food benefits to buy fresh produce at the town's two certified farmers markets. |
| Apr 4, 2012 |
City of Medina Using Grant Money to Build Sidewalks for Walkers, Bike Riders; Students Learn About Bike Safety Jackson Sun, Tracie Simer, 04/04/2012 On Wednesday afternoon, students at Medina Middle School learned the importance of wearing a helmet while riding a bike, traffic laws concerning cyclists and the hand signals to use while riding a bike on the road. The city of Medina partnered with Medina Middle School and the Tennessee Department of Transportation to educate students about bicycle safety. Through the use of the Safe Routes to School Grant, Medina is working on constructing sidewalks to provide students a safe way to walk or ride bikes to school. |
| Apr 4, 2012 |
Survey Finds Poor Diet, Lack of Exercise Are Greatest Health Risks to California Children Sacramento Bee, Jennifer Garza, 04/04/2012 Unhealthy eating habits and a lack of physical activity are the biggest health risks facing children today, according to a new survey of California voters. Nearly half of voters responding to a Field Poll, 48 percent, said bad eating habits and the lack of exercise are the biggest threats to children's health and a large majority, 73 percent, believe it is the community's responsibility to do something about it. |
| Apr 3, 2012 |
The Missing Piece in the Education Reform Conversation [Opinion] Huffington Post, Andrew Hysell, 04/03/2012 As education reformers consider health, the vast resources and capacity dedicated to educating our children can also become a vehicle to make them healthier. Childhood obesity advocates must take heed and seize this opportunity. Working together, education and public health advocates can coalesce around the shared objective of improving the lives of children. |
| Apr 3, 2012 |
Hernando's Mayor Cited as National Good Example Associated Press, 04/03/2012 Hernando, Miss., Mayor Chip Johnson says listening to voters is a big part of the reason he's now being held up as a national model for creating healthier cities and counties. His creation of a parks department, a farmers’ market and an employee wellness program were among reasons the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute asked Johnson to join a teleconference Tuesday about their survey of healthy and unhealthy counties. |
| Apr 3, 2012 |
McDowell County Schools Prepare for Mandated Lunch, Breakfast Changes McDowell News, Landdis Hollifield, 04/03/2012 One piece of legislation is changing the look – and taste -- of school lunches. Implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act will impact child nutrition programs around the country. For the past few years, there have been rumblings about coming changes. Because of this, McDowell County School’s Child Nutrition Department is already prepared for some of what will be required this fall. |
| Apr 3, 2012 |
Federal Official Happy with Healthier Detroit Public Schools Meals Detroit News, Shawn D. Lewis, 04/03/2012 Apples aren't just for teachers anymore at Gompers Elementary and Middle School, and a top federal official says that's a good thing. Audrey Rowe, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's food and nutrition service administrator, toured the school Monday to review progress in meeting new federal requirements for school lunches that take effect in September. The rules push whole grains and veggies and discourage sodium and fat — and Rowe gave Gompers a thumbs-up for its changes. She said she was impressed by its menu of turkey burgers on whole-wheat buns, fresh veggies and salads — and wowed that the kids ate them up. |
| Apr 3, 2012 |
‘Grow a Row’ Is Gardening for Good in Boise Idaho Statesman, Anna Web, 04/03/2012 The idea for Grow a Row, where home gardeners give their excess garden produce to local food pantries, isn’t new to Boise. The Garden Writers of America started the program more than a decade ago, according to Statesman gardening columnist Margaret Lauterbach. But this year, the idea of growing good stuff and sharing it with others is getting an injection of energy thanks to the city’s “Let’s Move Boise” program. |
| Apr 3, 2012 |
Many Small Kids Lack Outdoor Time with Parents: Study Reuters, Genevra Pittman, 04/03/2012 Roughly half of preschoolers don't spend time playing outside with a parent each day, despite the fact that outdoor play has been tied to a host of benefits for young children, including avoiding childhood obesity, a recent U.S. survey found. |
| Apr 1, 2012 |
Looking at Growth from the Health Perspective [Op-Ed] Desert Sun, Cameron Kaiser and T. Allen Merritt, 04/01/2012 While diseases can be caused by many factors, we know that our built environment, our transportation system and the pollution generated from cars are big factors. Fortunately, the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) is poised to adopt a ground-breaking plan for a healthier vision for our region. |
| Apr 1, 2012 |
Chelsea, Lynn, Revere, Salem Get Grants to Combat Obesity Boston Globe, John Laidler, 04/01/2012 Four area cities will get fresh resources to combat obesity through nearly $1 million in funding from Partners HealthCare. Chelsea, Lynn, Revere, and Salem will each receive $240,000 over four years to support communitywide initiatives designed to promote healthy eating and exercise as a way to trim waistlines. |
| Apr 1, 2012 |
First Lady Honors Parkway Efforts Asheville Citizen-Times, Karen Chávez, 04/01/2012 Last week, first lady Michelle Obama and the White House honored Carolyn Ward, executive director of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, as one of 13 leaders recognized as “Let’s Move! and Physical Activity Champions of Change” for their work to inspire and empower America’s youth to lead active, healthy lifestyles. Ward was chosen for her work in developing the Kids in Parks program, which began in 2008 at the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center in Asheville, with self-guided, brochure-led hiking trails, called TRACK Trails, designed to connect children to the outdoors, address health problems associated with physical inactivity and nurture the next generation of public land stewards. |
| Apr 1, 2012 |
Financial Carrots Dangled to Spur Supermarket Development NJ Spotlight, Beth Fitzgerald, 04/01/2012 A green grocer will break ground in Vineland as part of financing efforts to attract supermarkets to “food deserts” – the New Jersey cities scare in options for fresh fruits, vegetables and healthier food choices. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is providing $12 million to help bring affordable fresh food to an estimated 1 million New Jerseyans living in cities where this grocery gap is believed to play a major role in high rates of obesity among children, and preventable diseases like hypertension and diabetes among their parents. |
| Mar 30, 2012 |
On Track - Or Sidewalk - For Better Health News-Leader, Linda Leicht, 03/30/2012 Mitchell Parnell loves it when the weather gets warm enough that he can take the school bus — the Walking School Bus, that is… It’s all part of an effort to make the community, families and kids healthier — organized through the Healthy Living Alliance, a partnership of more than 20 organizations throughout the city that is focused on active living and healthy eating. |
| Mar 29, 2012 |
Nonprofit Group to Fund Healthy Meals at 267 LAUSD Schools Los Angeles Daily News, Barbara Jones, 03/29/2012 The LA Fund for Public Education, a nonprofit group formed last year to support the Los Angeles Unified School District, announced Thursday it will help fund a healthy-breakfast program next year at 267 of the district's poorest schools. |
| Mar 29, 2012 |
20 Coachella Valley Schools Join Anti-Obesity Campaign The Desert Sun, Michelle Mitchell, 03/29/2012 Twenty schools from the Coachella Valley's three public districts will join the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to fight obesity, superintendents decided Thursday. Editor’s Note: The Alliance for a Healthier Generation’s Healthy Schools Program is a grantee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. |
| Mar 28, 2012 |
Heading to Kentucky [Opinion] Huffington Post, Bill Telepan, 03/28/2012 Kentucky's school meal requirements are now even stricter than the health standards imposed by the USDA, and they have limited when and where "competitive foods" can be sold in schools -- those are the foods that come out of the vending machines. They are also reaching out to experts in childhood nutrition and fitness to help them turn the tide against obesity. |
| Mar 28, 2012 |
New School Lunch Rules Call for Colorful Menus Le Mars Daily Sentinel, Magdalene Landegent, 03/28/2012 Starting next year, the new rule will require high school students be offered one-half cup of the dark green vegetables per week, including foods like spinach, broccoli and romaine lettuce, Lubben said. Schools must also offer 1 1/4 cup of red and orange vegetables weekly, including carrots, squash, tomatoes, red peppers and sweet potatoes. The weekly menu must also include one-half cup of beans and peas, one-half cup of starchy vegetables like corn and potatoes, and three-fourths cup of other vegetables including asparagus, cauliflower, green beans, onions and zucchini. |
| Mar 28, 2012 |
Research on New Jersey Children Could Help Nation Battle Obesity NJ Spotlight, Beth Fitzgerald, 03/28/2012 With children in some of New Jersey's poorest cities being encouraged to eat their fruits and vegetables, a Rutgers University research team will follow 1,200 kids to see how changes in how they play and what they eat can help policymakers carry out successful strategies to battle the nation's childhood obesity epidemic. |
| Mar 28, 2012 |
Lufkin ISD’s School Health Advisory Council Focuses on All Aspects of Students’ Health Lufkin News, Nick Wade, 03/28/2012 [The School Health Advisory Council] is combating childhood obesity by recommending at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity in physical education in pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade classrooms, and continuing to have health education as a graduation requirement at the high school level. |
| Mar 28, 2012 |
Obesity Rate Climbs Among Mexican-American Adults USA Today, Nanci Hellmich, 03/28/2012 Federal researchers reported Wednesday that obesity and diabetes rates have climbed for Mexican-American adults just as they have for other people in the USA. About 40% of Mexican-American adults were obese in 2010, up from about 35% in 2006 and about 21% in 1984, according to new government data. |
| Mar 27, 2012 |
The Right to Sell Kids Junk [Opinion] New York Times, Mark Bittman, 03/27/2012 The First Amendment to the Constitution, which tops our Bill of Rights, guarantees — theoretically, at least — things we all care about. So much is here: freedom of religion, of the press, of speech, the right to assemble and more. Yet it’s stealthily and incredibly being invoked to safeguard the nearly unimpeded “right” of a handful of powerful corporations to market junk food to children. Editor’s Note: A study on food and beverage marketing in Maine schools, and a commentary on Constitutional issues regarding marketing, both mentioned in this article, were supported by RWJF. |
| Mar 27, 2012 |
Salad Bars Promote Healthy Eating in Schools Statewide Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Nedra Rhone, 03/27/2012 [Kipp South Fulton Academy’s] salad bar, funded by the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation (AFYF) as part of the national Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools program, is one of 15 salad bars going to schools in the metro area and beyond before the end of the school year. AFYF pledged more than $40,000 to fund the salad bars after receiving requests from more than 40 schools. |
| Mar 27, 2012 |
After-School Running Program Has Bluffton Students on the Move Hilton Head Island Packet, Amy Coyne Bredeson, 03/27/2012 A social studies teacher at Bluffton Middle School, [Pamela] Pray leads a group of students in exercising after school once a week. They call themselves Mustangs on the Move, after the school mascot. The students meet from 2:30 to 3:30 Wednesday afternoons to walk, jog or run around the perimeter of the school. |
| Mar 27, 2012 |
Ulster Tackles Childhood Obesity With Healthy Snack Initiative http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2012/March/27/UC_HelSnack-27Mar12.html, 03/27/2012 Ulster County officials announced their new Healthy After-School Snack Initiative. The program, announced Monday at Kingston's Mac Park, is designed to help curb childhood obesity. |
| Mar 26, 2012 |
Color Spectrum of Food Enhances Tioga Elementary School Diet Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, Jennifer Micale, 03/26/2012 From red peppers to broccoli and carrots, Tioga Elementary students know all about the colors of healthy food. On Monday, the district received one of the nation's top school nutrition awards -- Gold with Distinction -- from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's HealthierUS School Challenge. |
| Mar 26, 2012 |
Farms on Wheels Brings Agriculture to Schools San Diego Reader, Joan FitzSimons, 03/26/2012 Yellow school buses will soon do more than transport children to and from San Diego schools. On March 23, in his weekly "Friday Notes" email, San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Bill Kowba announced that some school buses will be transformed into “farms on wheels” to bring a living farm directly to the schools. |
| Mar 26, 2012 |
Humboldt County Implementing Health Care Reform Initiatives, Working to Increase Healthy Food Options Eureka Times-Standard, Megan Hansen, 03/26/2012 Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services Director Phillip Crandall said a large part of health care reform is prevention and reducing long-term health care costs. He said the availability of healthy food in communities is a major component of prevention and something the county is focusing on. |
| Mar 26, 2012 |
Student Fitness Improves With Anti-Obesity Program Reuters, Aparna Narayanan, 03/26/2012 Obesity rates continue to climb in California schools, but exercise and nutrition programs may be having a positive effect on student health, a new study suggests. |
| Mar 25, 2012 |
South Dakota by the Numbers: Not Enough Veggies in Diet Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Josh Verges, 03/25/2012 South Dakotans planning their gardens might want to consider planting fewer flowers and more vegetables. Just 15.7 percent of adult residents eat the recommended five daily servings of fruits and vegetables, according to a 2009 health survey. |
| Mar 25, 2012 |
Eliminating ‘Candy Bribery’ In Schools Education News Colorado, Rebecca Jones, 03/25/2012 As schools across the nation have banned sugar-sweetened sodas and chocolate milk, gotten rid of vending machines and upgraded school lunches to be healthier and more nutritious, candy in the classroom is also getting a critical evaluation. |
| Mar 25, 2012 |
Nutrition Is Important Factor in Education Gap [Op-Ed] New Haven Register, State Senator Toni N. Harp, 03/25/2012 Our students’ overall health is a determining factor in Connecticut’s alarming achievement gap. Let’s be sure to address it. |
| Mar 22, 2012 |
Food Stamps Are Too Valuable to Waste on Junk Food [Editorial] Bloomberg News, 03/22/2012 The Florida Legislature just spent a couple of weeks debating a reasonable question: Why should U.S. taxpayers pay for the junk food people buy with food stamps? |
| Mar 21, 2012 |
Colorado's Elementary Schools Strive to Give Kids More Exercise Denver Post, Yesenia Robles, 03/21/2012 Yoga, themed recess and brain breaks have found their place at elementary schools across Colorado as educators find more ways to get kids moving — and to comply with new laws. |
| Mar 21, 2012 |
Richland One Students Get Free, Healthy Dinner WLTX Columbia, SC, Sydney Summins, 03/21/2012 While it may sound contradictory, education officials will tell you that both childhood obesity and hunger are problems in our schools. Kids in Richland School District One are now getting help with both in their after-school programs with a free, healthy dinner. In the district, 73% of students are in the free or reduced lunch program. And even those who aren't are starting their day at 6 a.m., which means a normal dinner time is long after when they're ready for a meal. Thanks to a federally funded program, they're getting a hot, healthy dinner and learning about good food choices as well. |
| Mar 21, 2012 |
Obesity Costly in More Ways than One The Chattanoogan, Laura Smith, 03/21/2012 The health care costs linked to excess weight in Georgia’s adults are currently estimated at around $2.5 billion per year, according to a 2009 report from United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association and the Partnership for Prevention. But if current trends continue, the report projects these costs could reach $10.8 billion by 2018. At the current rate, by 2018 as many as 41 percent of Georgia adults could be obese and spending over $1,000 each for obesity-related health care annually, according to the report. |
| Mar 21, 2012 |
Kids Hop on the Walking School Bus Iowa City Press-Citizen, Mitchell Schmidt, 03/21/2012 More than 70 students boarded Garner Elementary’s new walking school bus when the program kicked off Wednesday. |
| Mar 21, 2012 |
‘Walking School Bus’ Hopes to Limit Childhood Obesity The Gazette, Patrick Hogan, 03/21/2012 Johnson County is trying to get more kids and parents to burn calories instead of gasoline on their daily commute to school. The county’s Obesity Task Force is piloting a program at Garner Elementary School in North Liberty called Walking School Bus, that encourages students to take the opportunity on Wednesday mornings to walk to school in large, parent-chaperoned groups. |
| Mar 21, 2012 |
U.S. Underestimates Long-Term Costs of Obesity, Experts Say HealthDay, Amanda Gardner, 03/21/2012 The costs of the obesity epidemic to the United States and the economic value of curbing it are not captured fully by current methods, according to a new report. The problem is that estimates used by Congress when it looks at these issues project out only 10 years, while it may take much longer than that for complications of obesity, such as diabetes and heart disease, to manifest, the report authors say. |
| Mar 20, 2012 |
New Jersey Fresh Food Initiative Receives $12 Million to Support Underserved Cities The Star-Ledger, Sarah Portlock, 03/20/2012 The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation yesterday said it will provide $12 million to a program intended to increase the supply of affordable, fresh food in some of the state’s most underserved communities. |
| Mar 20, 2012 |
More Obese People Have Joint Pain, Heart Conditions USA Today, Nanci Hellmich, 03/20/2012 Obese adults are significantly more likely to report having joint pain, heart conditions, high cholesterol and diabetes than people at a healthy weight. |
| Mar 20, 2012 |
There's More To Fixing Food Deserts Than Building Grocery Stores NPR “The Salt”, Rachel Estabrook, 03/20/2012 Researchers are finding that it's more complicated than "if you build it, they will come." A study finds that shoppers don't just care about cost and proximity to fresh produce — they also need choice and quality if they're going to buy it... In other words, low-income shoppers dislike wilted lettuce just as much as anyone else. |
| Mar 20, 2012 |
Neighborhood Around Washington Park Showing New Energy Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Georgia Pabst, 03/20/2012 The Share Mobile Market truck pulled into the parking lot behind the apartment building at N. 39th St. and W. Lisbon Ave., and volunteers rushed to unload boxes of oranges, pears and cabbages and coolers filled with chicken and fish. Within minutes, a big, empty room at the United Methodist Children's Services apartment building had been transformed into a market, part of the health and wellness plan to provide low-priced, quality food to residents in the Washington Park area, which is considered a food desert. |
| Mar 20, 2012 |
U.S. Soda Consumption Fell Faster in 2011 Reuters, Martinne Geller, 03/20/2012 Total sales volume of soda fell about 1 percent in 2011 to 9.27 billion cases, according to Beverage Digest, about the same level it was in 1996. Sales volume fell 0.5 percent in 2010. |
| Mar 20, 2012 |
Cities a Test Kitchen for Fighting Childhood Obesity NJ Spotlight, Beth Fitzgerald, 03/20/2012 An initiative to fight childhood obesity is now underway in five New Jersey cities -- Newark, New Brunswick, Camden, Vineland and Trenton -- where parks and gardens are blooming to battle the epidemic’s alarming consequences of children who struggle to climb stairs or who suffer from preventable diseases like diabetes and hypertension… It’s all part of the work by the New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids, with seed money from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to bring scores of stakeholders in the cities together to advocate for policies and environmental changes to increase access to physical exercise and healthy foods. |
| Mar 19, 2012 |
Taking Strides Toward Healthier Kids Indianola Record Herald, Ashley Swanson, 03/19/2012 The morning walking club is an initiative started by the middle school wellness committee to help support health and get more students to engage in physical activity… The new walking club is just one of several healthy initiatives the wellness committee has started. The other, a grab-and-go healthy breakfast, has already received kudos from first lady Michelle Obama, at her Let’s Move event in Des Moines last month. |
| Mar 19, 2012 |
Whatcom County Part of National Anti-Obesity Effort in Young Kids Bellingham Herald, Ralph Schwartz, 03/19/2012 Low-income children in Whatcom County will take part in a national campaign to reduce obesity rates. The county was one of 50 in the United States selected for "Collaborate for Healthy Weight," which seeks community-based solutions to what health officials call a national epidemic. |
| Mar 18, 2012 |
We Must Get a Grip on Child Obesity [Editorial] The Tennessean, 03/18/2012 While the message about child obesity must first hit home with parents, there is a role for government to play… Where government agencies can help is to bring healthier food choices to cafeterias and school vending machines; fund improvements in public playgrounds and ballfields and make them safer; and support public-service programs and ads that teach children and their parents about the necessity of healthy food and physical fitness. |
| Mar 17, 2012 |
East L.A. Corner Markets Get Free Makeovers as Part of Public-Health Program Los Angeles Times, Dalina Castellanos, 03/17/2012 In an effort to curb heart disease by encouraging better dietary choices, stores get fresh paint on the walls, healthful food on the shelves and plenty of fresh produce. |
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