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News digest
This frequently updated news digest on the subject of Childhood Obesity highlights key articles from major journals and news publications. The digest is a free service of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. All rights reserved. Sign up to receive the digest free via e-mail.
| Sep 2, 2010 |
Fresh Fruits, Vegetables For 188 Illinois Schools Associated Press, 09/02/2010 Students in 188 Illinois schools will get fresh fruits and vegetables to eat this school year. The Illinois State Board of Education said Wednesday the schools will participate in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. The federally funded program would provide fresh produce throughout the school day. |
| Sep 2, 2010 |
Battelle to Examine What Curbs Childhood Obesity The Columbus Dispatch, Misti Crane, 09/02/2010 [N]obody has systematically looked at whether all the money, time and discussion devoted to childhood-obesity prevention and intervention is doing any good and what type of work seems to make the most difference. That's why the federal government has given Battelle and its collaborators $23 million - and as much as $29.7 million by the end of the five-year project - to study 300 U.S. communities. They'll take an in-depth look at 100 children in each of those communities and analyze efforts to improve their health. |
| Sep 2, 2010 |
New Program Plants Seeds for Healthier Kids, Community The Progress-Index, Michael Buettner, 09/02/2010 A project to plant healthy eating habits in children and grow a healthy community is starting from the ground up at a local school and is expected to take root at more schools in the next few years. Elected officials, educators and representatives of nonprofit groups gathered Wednesday at Westview Early Childhood Education Center to unveil the city's first Growing Healthy Kids Garden. |
| Sep 1, 2010 |
Schools Planning for New Law Aimed at Childhood Obesity WYTV - Youngstown, Ohio, 09/01/2010 It's no secret the country has an obesity problem. But Ohio is taking steps to change that, starting with children. Senate Bill 210, which goes into effect Sept. 17, is aimed at addressing a growing need. This law places tough restrictions on beverages in schools and vending machines from kindergarten to 12th grade, even banning the sale of some items…[and] requires better teaching of nutrition and physical activity benefits and requires schools to calculate the body mass index, or BMI, of its students. |
| Sep 1, 2010 |
A Nibble Here, and a Nibble There Boston Globe, Jane Dornbusch, 09/01/2010 Seems like everyone - from politicians to TV chefs - wants to make over school food programs. But even advocates concede that major changes can't happen overnight. When it comes to what’s going on in the school cafeteria, industry experts agree that turning this battleship will require commitment, money, and, perhaps more than anything, the will to make it happen. |
| Aug 31, 2010 |
Students Making Gains in Improving BMI Pensacola News Journal, Carmen Paige, 08/31/2010 More Santa Rosa County first-, third- and sixth-graders are slowly moving into the normal range for body mass index. Since 2007, the normal body mass index ranges for students in these grades have gone from 60 percent to 72 percent, showing a slight but steady increase, said Debbie Price, nursing program specialist with the Santa Rosa County Health Department. |
| Aug 31, 2010 |
Coming Soon: Theaters, Airplanes to Post Calories Wall Street Journal, Janet Adamy, 08/31/2010 Regulators' appetite for calorie counts is about to extend beyond restaurants to thousands of other places that offer food, including airplanes, movie theaters and convenience stores. |
| Aug 30, 2010 |
Asheville Area Restaurants Rethinking Kids' Menus to Fight Childhood Obesity Asheville Citizen-Times, Carol Motsinger, 08/30/2010 Steve Frabitore can't escape the challenge of getting kids to eat healthy. As a father of four boys, age 11 to 21, he's waged his fair share of food fights in his home kitchen, trying to make sure his clan grows up strong eating nutritional meals instead of their junk food cravings. He takes his battle plan to work with him, too. As a restaurateur, Frabitore is also concerned with making sure the pint-sized diners at his Tupelo Honey Café locations have nutritious and delicious meals. |
| Aug 29, 2010 |
Baby Carrots Take on Junk Food With Hip Marketing Campaign Bruce Horovitz, USA Today, 08/29/2010 Name a snack food that's neon orange and makes a loud crunch when munched. If you picked Cheetos, the nation's biggest producer of baby carrots wants you to think again. |
| Aug 28, 2010 |
Charter School Passes Fresh Test of Nutrition Memphis Commercial Appeal, Jane Roberts, 08/28/2010 Harold Wingood is out to turn a food desert into an oasis, build community gardening skills and save Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering six figures a year while doing it. |
| Aug 28, 2010 |
Program to Push Active Lifestyles for Children Wisconsin Rapids Tribune, Adam Wise, 08/28/2010 Local health officials plan to reach children with messages that will encourage them to develop early healthy eating and exercise habits. The South Wood County YMCA will begin a fitness and nutrition effort at local after-school programs this fall to combat childhood obesity. |
| Aug 28, 2010 |
Idaho's First Lady to Kick-Off Farm-to-School Program at Elementary School Idaho Statesman, Anna Webb, 08/28/2010 In Idaho, five school districts have been selected by the Idaho State Department of Agriculture and Idaho State Department of Education to serve as pilot schools to implement Farm to School programs and help create best practices for other schools to follow who want to begin Farm to School efforts. |
| Aug 27, 2010 |
Connecticut Youth Invited to Fight Childhood Obesity Associated Press, 08/27/2010 Children and youth across Connecticut have the opportunity to become “Health Heroes” by learning about childhood obesity, designing programs to address it and implementing the programs in their communities. UnitedHealth HEROES is a service-learning, health literacy initiative designed to encourage young people, working with educators and youth leaders, to create and implement local hands-on programs to fight childhood obesity. |
| Aug 25, 2010 |
Bibb Schools Launching Health Initiative Macon Telegraph, Julie Hubbard, 08/25/2010 King-Danforth, Jones, Bernd and Burdell-Hunt elementary schools in Macon are part of a new three-year health project the school system is launching. Students from those schools walked with the superintendent at various times Tuesday. The system hopes to teach students at these high-poverty schools about nutrition and fitness, train their parents to live healthier and allow teachers there to start wellness programs together. |
| Aug 25, 2010 |
Foodlink's Rochester Farm Stand Hopes to Change Inner-City Diets Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Sean Dobbin, 08/25/2010 For area residents, Foodlink's stand might be their only encounter with fresh produce all week. "It's close and it's reasonable. You can save a dollar here," said Calvin Moore, 56, a neighborhood resident. "And it's good vegetables and good fruit." |
| Aug 25, 2010 |
Restaurant Chains, Vending Machines Will Have to Post Calories Los Angeles Times, Andrew Zajac, 08/25/2010 Many chain restaurants and vending machines would have to display the number of calories in their food for consumers under draft guidelines released Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration. |
| Aug 24, 2010 |
USDA Grants Help Plant Seeds of Good Nutrition With School Gardens USA Today, Nanci Hellmich, 08/24/2010 Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announces it will award $1 million in grants for eligible high-poverty schools to start community gardens. |
| Aug 24, 2010 |
A School Fight Over Chocolate Milk New York Times, Kim Severson, 08/24/2010 Chocolate milk has emerged as both villain and victim in a cafeteria drama that pits the milk industry, administrators and parents against one another. |
| Aug 23, 2010 |
Pro / Con: Should Chocolate Milk Be Allowed in Schools? Los Angeles Times, Brendan Borrell, Rachel Johnson and Marlene Schwartz, 08/23/2010 Pediatricians, public health experts and school administrators are divided as to whether the nutritional benefits of flavored milks outweigh their sugary downside. |
| Aug 23, 2010 |
Health Coalition to Offer Grants for Obesity Programs Muncie Star Press, Ivy Farguheson, 08/23/2010 A local coalition of Delaware County organizations wants to put their money where your mouth is. Healthy Living Take Charge! was created to tackle one issue only – obesity – taking steps to lower the county's high obesity rates among adults and children. |
| Aug 23, 2010 |
Schools Are Making Lunches Healthier St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Georgina Gustin, 08/23/2010 First it was the Pop-Tarts. Then the french fries. Then the nachos. And this year, another school lunch staple got the ax. "We're not serving any chicken nuggets," said a triumphant Carol Kon, the food service director for the Maplewood-Richmond Heights School District. "We're the first to do that." |
| Aug 22, 2010 |
Better Food for Thought: Local Districts Offer Less Fat, More Imagination in Effort to Make Students Healthier Houston Chronicle, Jennifer Radcliffe, 08/22/2010 Among the items debuting on Houston-area school lunch menus this academic year: yams, Brussels sprouts, acorn squash, edamame and bok choy. Sushi, Cuban pork tacos and spinach salads also will be served up as some area school districts try to meet increasing pressure to offer more nutritious school lunches. |
| Aug 21, 2010 |
Fixing a World That Fosters Fat New York Times, Natasha Singer, 08/21/2010 Behavior changes won’t work on their own without seismic societal shifts, health experts say, because eating too much and exercising too little are merely symptoms of a much larger malady. The real problem is a landscape littered with inexpensive fast-food meals; saturation advertising for fatty, sugary products; inner cities that lack supermarkets; and unhealthy, high-stress workplaces. |
| Aug 20, 2010 |
New Sidewalks Greet Conner Students Cincinnati Enquirer, Mark Hansel, 08/20/2010 School is back in session in Boone County and students at the Conner High/Middle School campus should have an easier time getting around this year. A plan to install more than 6,000 feet of sidewalks within a two-mile radius around the campus as part of the Safe Routes to Schools program is nearing completion. |
| Aug 19, 2010 |
Area Districts Increase Efforts on Health San Antonio Express-News, Jennifer R. Lloyd, 08/19/2010 Many districts are making a variety of efforts that will continue during the coming school year. While some are upgrading student nutrition, others are altering physical education programs and hosting information sessions for parents about obesity-related health risks, such as developing Type 2 diabetes. |
| Aug 19, 2010 |
Food Stamp Discount for Buying Produce: Study Will Monitor W. Mass. Recipients Boston Globe, Patrick G. Lee, 08/19/2010 More than two dozen cities and towns in Western Massachusetts will be the focus of a major federal initiative being announced today to increase low-income families’ consumption of fruits and vegetables, as part of the nation’s efforts to combat obesity. |
| Aug 18, 2010 |
School Nutrition: Healthier Ingredients, More Education for 2010-11 Christian Science Monitor, Stacy Teicher Khadaroo, 08/18/2010 According to a new survey completed by nutrition directors in 538 districts around the country, 95 percent are increasing whole-grain offerings, 90 percent are providing more fresh fruits and vegetables, 69 percent are reducing sodium, 66 percent are reducing added sugar, and 67 percent of those with vending services are making healthier drinks more available. |
| Aug 17, 2010 |
CPS Unveils Push for Healthier School Meals Chicago Tribune, Monica Eng, 08/17/2010 During the last school year, most Chicago public schools did not offer recess, regular nutrition classes or more than 40 minutes of physical education a week. Most also served few whole grains and healthy vegetables. But they did use other (often unhealthful) foods as rewards and fundraisers. High schools sold sports drinks in machines and nachos and fries as daily lunches. Any one of these factors would knock a school out of contention for "gold" recognition through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's HealthierUS School Challenge program. But on Tuesday, Chicago Public Schools and a consortium of supporters vowed to get at least 100 schools in compliance over the next three years. |
| Aug 16, 2010 |
Rockford School District Fights Obesity With Healthier Lunches Rockford Register Star, Mike DeDoncker, 08/16/2010 Pizzas and almost everything else in Rockford School District lunch lines are getting a makeover this fall as the district tries to do its part in the battle against childhood obesity. |
| Aug 16, 2010 |
Program Aims to Change Way Kids Think About Food Gloucester County Times, Greg Adomaitis, 08/16/2010 A $51,000 federal grant will fund a joint project between the Rutgers [Food Innovation] Center and the state Department of Agriculture. The project, which will run for about one year, aims to pair local produce with local schools in an attempt to create meals that are healthy, grown in the state and kid-approved. |
| Aug 16, 2010 |
UCSF Study Finds Racial Gaps in Child Obesity San Francisco Chronicle, Erin Allday, 08/16/2010 For the first time in more than three decades, obesity rates for white and Asian children are falling in California, and they seem to have leveled off for Hispanic kids - all good signs that public health campaigns aimed at keeping young people away from unhealthful sweets and fatty foods are starting to work, according to a UCSF study. The bad news is that those programs don't seem to be reaching all children. Editor’s Note: The study described in this article was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through its national program, Active Living Research. |
| Aug 15, 2010 |
Latino Market in Providence Gets a Healthier Food Makeover Providence Journal, Richard Salit, 08/15/2010 At the Mi Quisqueya Market on Saturday morning, shoppers entering the store and checking out at the cash register are surrounded by displays of high-fat potato chips and bottles of Coke, Sunny D, and other sweetened beverages. But not for long. |
| Aug 13, 2010 |
Upper Deerfield Shoprite, South Jersey Healthcare Target Childhood Obesity With Classes News of Cumberland County, Joe Green, 08/13/2010 According to Debbie Erlandson, Childhood Obesity Coordinator for South Jersey Healthcare (SJH), 40 to 50 percent of children in the county, at least in certain age groups, are obese or overweight… That’s why Erlandson, a pediatric nurse by training, has been teaching local parents the saving merits of healthy diets at the Carlls Corner Bottino’s ShopRite. She’s an instructor for the free iHealthy Family program, which along with iHealthy Kid is a joint effort by SJH and ShopRite targeting unhealthy diets and lifestyles. |
| Aug 13, 2010 |
Chicago Partners With Walgreens to Bring Groceries to Food Deserts Chicago Tribune, John Byrne, 08/13/2010 Mayor Richard Daley and Walgreen Co. officials touted progress Wednesday in the city's push to wipe out "food deserts" in Chicago. The Deerfield-based drugstore chain is adding fresh fruit and vegetables at four stores by next week, bringing to 10 the number of such outposts on the city's South and West sides. Those impoverished areas of Chicago have been plagued by the lack of grocery stores after major chains closed some locations over the years. |
| Aug 12, 2010 |
Eat an Apple (Doctor’s Orders) New York Times, Natasha Singer, 08/12/2010 The farm stand is becoming the new apothecary, dispensing apples — not to mention artichokes, asparagus and arugula — to fill a novel kind of prescription. Doctors at three health centers in Massachusetts have begun advising patients to eat “prescription produce” from local farmers’ markets, in an effort to fight obesity in children of low-income families. Now they will give coupons amounting to $1 a day for each member of a patient’s family to promote healthy meals. |
| Aug 11, 2010 |
More Than 88,000 in Birmingham Live Too Far From Grocery Stores Birmingham News, Hannah Wolfson, 08/11/2010 More than a third of Birmingham city residents live in an area where they don't have easy access to healthy food, according to a study that will be presented today. |
| Aug 11, 2010 |
8 North Carolina Schools Revamping School Lunches Asheville Citizen-Times, Nanci Bompey, 08/11/2010 Henderson County apples. Hydroponic lettuce from Madison County. North Carolina-grown sweet potatoes. These aren't menu items at a downtown restaurant. They're some of the fresh, locally grown produce gracing school lunch menus this year. |
| Aug 11, 2010 |
San Francisco Proposal: Healthier Kids Meals Or No Toys San Francisco Chronicle, Rachel Gordon, 08/11/2010 Toys that have been synonymous with kids' meals at fast-food restaurants could soon be banned in San Francisco under a new law proposed Tuesday if the food contains too much fat, sugar or salt. |
| Aug 11, 2010 |
Comer Youth Center Project Is a Garden in the Desert Chicago Tribune, Pete Reinwald, 08/11/2010 Drivers on South Chicago Avenue near 73rd Street notice something turning green, and it's not just the traffic light. It's something beautiful and edible. "In the midst of a big street, you turn around, and then there's a farm," said Joshua Jackson, 16. It's a new community garden, where Jackson and dozens of fellow teenagers at the Gary Comer Youth Center are helping to turn 15,000 square feet of blight — about a third of an acre — in the Greater Grand Crossing community into fruit trees, nut trees, landscape plants, collard greens, mustard greens, pole beans and more. And it's all organic. |
| Aug 10, 2010 |
Walking the Walk in the Fight Against Obesity Buffalo News, Charity Vogel, 08/10/2010 Buffalo mom Cheryl Clark knows what it's like to worry about her child's wellness -- and be frustrated about how to change unhealthy habits. That's why Clark and her son, Troy, 12, were thrilled to learn about a new fitness program started by the doctors at Allentown Pediatrics. It's a walk in the park -- literally. |
| Aug 10, 2010 |
Chefs Help Craft Healthier School Lunches With Local Food USA Today, Nanci Hellmich, 08/10/2010 [Chef Tony] Geraci and hundreds of other chefs across the country are signing up for the government's Chefs Move to Schools initiative, which encourages culinary experts to share their expertise with local schools. |
| Aug 9, 2010 |
Navigating Chicago's Food Deserts RedEye, Kyra Kyles, 08/09/2010 There is an oasis emerging amid the food deserts that once cut wide swaths across areas on the city's South and West sides. The evidence is in recent headlines and initiatives undertaken by both the city and private retailers. |
| Aug 8, 2010 |
Colorado Schools Taste Change in Student Meals Denver Post, Karen Auge, 08/08/2010 One day in April, Durango students sat down to a lunch that included Tuscan blend vegetables, a choice of fresh fruit and a salad bar. For parents who remember school veggies as limp green or orange wads floating in watery brine and smelling of tin cans and steam trays, Durango's fancy local produce and grass-fed beef might seem nothing short of revolutionary. The day might be coming, though, when that menu is the norm. |
| Aug 8, 2010 |
Shaping Up PE: The Rise in Childhood Obesity Prompts a Gym Class Makeover Washington Post, Daniele Seiss, 08/08/2010 The days of students fretting over being the last one picked during volleyball or the first one tagged in dodge ball are fading in many D.C. area schools as physical education classes… focus more on individual fitness, personal growth and development. "The trend is to move away from competitiveness," [teacher Donald] Hawkins says. |
| Aug 7, 2010 |
Local Non-Profit Launches Childhood Obesity Initiative Florence Morning News, Carlton Purvis, 08/07/2010 Unlimited Possibilities, Inc. launched a program to fight childhood obesity with a back-to-school celebration outside of their Palmetto Street headquarters Saturday. In the past, the non-profit learning center has focused on computer literacy and interpersonal skills, but after seeing South Carolina's recent obesity statistics, UPI director Margaret Smith added one more objective to the center's goal of enriching the community. |
| Aug 7, 2010 |
Schools to Offer Lower Fat Milk Choices Jackson Clarion-Ledger, 08/07/2010 Milk choices in Mississippi schools this year will be fat-free or 1 percent low-fat. The State Board of Education adopted the new standards in March, Shane McNeill, director of the Office of Healthy Schools for the state Department of Education, said in a news release. |
| Aug 6, 2010 |
Hoover Health Summit to Focus on Obesity, Tobacco Use Birmingham News, Val Walton, 08/06/2010 Jefferson County's efforts to reduce obesity and snuff out tobacco use will be the focus next week during the third annual "Health Action Summit" in Hoover. |
| Aug 6, 2010 |
North Philadelphia Neighborhood Gets a Produce Market Philadelphia Inquirer, Michael Brocker, 08/06/2010 On Thursdays, fresh fruit is now only steps away from the home of Dominique Wilder, 38, a mother of four in the Norris Square community of North Philadelphia. A tiny farmers market opened at Susquehanna Avenue and North Howard Street on Thursday, offering fresh produce - from apples to zucchini - to a community that does not have much access to healthy groceries. |
| Aug 5, 2010 |
Birth Weight Strongly Linked to Obesity: New Evidence Suggests Gain During Pregnancy Is Key USA Today, Nanci Hellmich, 08/05/2010 Women who gain a lot of weight during pregnancy are more likely to have high-birth-weight babies, which may increase the children's risk of becoming obese later in life, a new study suggests. |
| Aug 5, 2010 |
Senate Passes Bill to Make School Lunches Healthy Associated Press, Mary Clare Jalonick, 08/05/2010 Pizzas and hamburgers in the school lunch line would be healthier under child nutrition legislation passed by the Senate Thursday, a key part of first lady Michelle Obama's campaign to end childhood obesity. The $4.5 billion legislation passed by voice vote would create new standards for all foods in schools, including vending machine items, to give students healthier meal options. It would also expand the number of low-income children eligible for free or reduced cost meals. |
| Aug 4, 2010 |
The Senate’s Important Lunch Date [Op-Ed] New York Times, Richard G. Lugar, 08/04/2010 Given our economic climate and tradition of bipartisan support for child nutrition, we should pass this meritorious bill now. It would be a success that both parties can claim. |
| Aug 3, 2010 |
Young New Yorkers Sipping Smarter Than Two Years Ago: 48% of Locals Drink Sugary Beverages Each Day New York Daily News, Adam Lisberg, 08/03/2010 Fewer than half of city residents between 18 and 24 drink a soda, sweet tea or other sugar-filled beverage each day - down 10 points in two years, to 48%. That's part of a broad decline in the number of people who told a city Health Department survey they have a nondiet drink every day. |
| Aug 3, 2010 |
Obesity Rates Keep Rising, Troubling Health Officials New York Times, Denise Grady, 08/03/2010 Americans are continuing to get fatter and fatter, with obesity rates reaching 30 percent or more in nine states last year, as opposed to only three states in 2007, health officials reported on Tuesday. |
| Aug 2, 2010 |
Farmers Markets Can't Reach Everyone: Only One Market in Mecklenburg County Accepts SNAP Benefits Charlotte Observer, Karen Sullivan, 08/02/2010 [The] hit-or-miss placement of fresh food and SNAP-approved outlets is a frustration for many farmers, fresh-food advocates and SNAP recipients. |
| Aug 2, 2010 |
A Food Bill We Need [Op-Ed] Washington Post, Michelle Obama, 08/02/2010 Right now, our country has a major opportunity to make our schools and our children healthier. It's an opportunity we haven't seen in years, and one that is too important to let pass by. The Child Nutrition Bill working its way through Congress has support from both Democrats and Republicans. This groundbreaking legislation will bring fundamental change to schools and improve the food options available to our children |
| Aug 1, 2010 |
Lack of Access to Nutritious Fare in Poor Areas Contributes to Obesity, Other Problems Columbus Dispatch, Misti Crane, 08/01/2010 Columbus Public Health leaders have mapped what they call the city's "food deserts" in hopes of understanding where the problem is most severe. They did that by comparing the distance to fast-food restaurants and larger grocery stores from each census block and arriving at a "food balance score." |
| Jul 31, 2010 |
Food Assistance to Roll in South Jersey Gloucester County Times, Jessica Driscoll, 07/31/2010 Today, the Food Bank of South Jersey will launch its Hope Mobile program at a community center in Camden, the pilot run for the rolling emergency food assistance station that will visit under-served areas in Gloucester, Camden, Salem and Burlington counties. |
| Jul 31, 2010 |
Governor Signs Bill to Improve Nutrition for Schoolchildren Boston Globe, Sydney Lupkin, 07/31/2010 Governor Deval Patrick signed a bill yesterday that will change the way Massachusetts public school students eat, by banning the use of fryolators and requiring the sale of fresh fruits and non-fried vegetables wherever food is sold. |
| Jul 29, 2010 |
Culinary School Grads Going to High Schools to Help Fight Childhood Obesity With HealthCorps Program New York Daily News, Trevor Kapp, 07/29/2010 Come September, Sarah Fishstrom will take her culinary skills to an East Flatbush high school to teach today's snackfood-gorged teens how to eat better… The 24-year-old and her fellow recent college grads will head off to high schools around the U.S. to instruct teens how to make better food choices. |
| Jul 28, 2010 |
Reid Wants Child Nutrition Bill Before Recess “Healthwatch” (The Hill blog), Mike Lillis, 07/28/2010 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said this week that Democrats are hoping to pass a child nutrition bill before lawmakers leave town for the August recess. The $4.5 billion proposal, sponsored by Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), would expand eligibility for school meal programs; establish nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools; and provide a 6-cent increase for each school lunch to help cafeterias serve healthier meals. |
| Jul 28, 2010 |
Impact of Childhood Obesity Goes Beyond Health National Public Radio, Patti Neighmond, 07/28/2010 The health effects of being overweight or obese are well documented. Extra pounds add extra risk for diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers, even among children. But new research also documents significant social and economic consequences of being overweight since high school. |
| Jul 27, 2010 |
Experts Want Junk Taken Off Food Stamp Menu Bangor Daily News, Meg Haskell, 07/27/2010 Four billion dollars. That’s how much Americans spend in food stamp dollars each year to buy sugar-sweetened, carbonated soft drinks. In Maine, it translates to about $20 million a year. Imagine, says Maine pediatric dentist and public health advocate Jonathan Shenkin, how much healthful food could be purchased with those dollars. |
| Jul 26, 2010 |
Itta Bena Stranded in 'Food Desert' Associated Press, Taylor Kuykendall, 07/26/2010 The lush, fertile ground of the Mississippi Delta is an abundant source of fresh produce, delivered across the world, but a new study suggests the fruits of the Delta soil are rarely consumed at home. |
| Jul 25, 2010 |
YMCA Joins Hospital in Effort to Fight Childhood Obesity Stamford Advocate, Elizabeth Kim, 07/25/2010 Stamford Hospital has joined forces with the Stamford YMCA to combat childhood obesity. Beginning this fall, children enrolled in the hospital's after-school wellness program can elect to join the YMCA after their 12-week session with medical and fitness professionals at the Tully Health Center ends… Through regular meetings with a pediatrician, nutritionist, exercise instructor and social worker, children are taught how to make healthier food and lifestyle choices. |
| Jul 24, 2010 |
Peapod Helps Wash Out Chicago's Food Desert Chicago Sun Times, Sandra Guy, 07/24/2010 Jana Estell has watched helplessly as two full-time grocery stores have closed in her Ashburn neighborhood in the last 10 years, leaving her and her family with a gasoline station for a corner store and limited-selection grocers within driving distance… So Estell jumped at a chance to order groceries from online delivery company Peapod, the 21-year-old company that got its start in Skokie and is now a subsidiary of Royal Ahold of the Netherlands. |
| Jul 24, 2010 |
Dallas ISD Taking Lead Role in Making School Lunches More Nutritious Dallas Morning News, Tom Benning, 07/24/2010 So long, nachos. Hello, brown rice. Dallas school students can also say goodbye to high-sugar cereals, potato chips and sundry other snacks when they return to school this fall. As part of a nationwide push against childhood obesity, the Dallas Independent School District is overhauling its cafeteria menu by featuring healthier food and tossing aside classic artery cloggers. |
| Jul 23, 2010 |
Ad Rules Stall, Keeping Cereal a Cartoon Staple New York Times, William Neuman, 07/23/2010 Lucky Charms. Froot Loops. Cocoa Pebbles. A ConAgra frozen dinner with corn dog and fries. McDonald’s Happy Meals. These foods might make a nutritionist cringe, but all of them have been identified by food companies as healthy choices they can advertise to children under a three-year-old initiative by the food industry to fight childhood obesity. Now a hard-nosed effort by the federal government to forge tougher advertising standards that favor more healthful products has become stalled amid industry opposition and deep divisions among regulators. |
| Jul 23, 2010 |
A Race With 2 Finish Lines: Training West Side Kids for a 5K Race, Running Program Gets Youths Active While Emphasizing Good Nutrition Chicago Tribune, Brian Hedger, 07/23/2010 Andre Perrin notices it whenever he goes for a run through his neighborhood on the West Side: parks empty while kids stand on corners holding bags of fast food and slurping down pop… It bothers Perrin, who grew up near Jackson Park on the South Side, where he and his friends would often spend long days playing basketball, baseball, tennis or other games. Now Perrin is helping to lead a new running program for youth that also emphasizes healthy eating. |
| Jul 23, 2010 |
Legislature Passes Bill Targeting Childhood Obesity: Junk Food Sales Curbed in Schools Boston Globe, 07/23/2010 A bill to restrict the sale of high-calorie, high-fat, and high-sodium snacks in schools has hit Governor Deval Patrick’s desk and could be law within 10 days. The legislation, meant to limit childhood obesity, cleared its final procedural votes yesterday. Under the bill, schools would be encouraged to sell nonfried fruit and vegetables, whole grain products, nonfat or low-fat dairy products, noncarbonated water, and juice with no additives. |
| Jul 22, 2010 |
Hope for Health Teaches Moms to Live Healthy Lifestyle The Tennessean, Derek Moy, 07/22/2010 The intensive 12-week program aims to decrease the obesity rate of mothers, which in turn could lower their children’s chances of being obese. The women keep food journals, undergo nutritional education, take part in group and personal training, and get a 30-minute lifestyle coaching session each week. The program is funded through an anonymous donation and is free to the chosen participants. |
| Jul 22, 2010 |
Extra Weight Adds to Economic Woes “Well” (New York Times blog), Tara Parker-Pope, 07/22/2010 Years of being overweight not only contributes to health problems but also to a person’s economic woes, new research suggests. Adults who have been overweight since high school are more likely to be unemployed or on welfare than those who gained weight gradually during their 20s and 30s, according to a study published in The American Journal of Epidemiology. People who have been persistently overweight since high school are also more likely to be single at 40 and have no more than a high school education, compared with those who have gained weight slowly over time, the study showed. |
| Jul 22, 2010 |
Fast-Food-Free Zones Suggested to Combat Obesity The Capital Times, Shawn Doherty, 07/22/2010 Should local governments in Wisconsin consider regulating the sale of French fries and cheeseburgers the way they control the sale of alcohol and cigarettes? State public health officials think so. Wisconsin's new 10-year public health plan, released Wednesday, suggests that municipalities use zoning regulations to limit the number and density of fast-food restaurants, particularly in low-income neighborhoods. |
| Jul 22, 2010 |
Sweating for Their Own Good Raleigh News & Observer, Josh Shaffer, 07/22/2010 Every Monday till Sept. 6, the Southeast Raleigh Assembly invites all comers to the park off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, where they can fight North Carolina's high obesity rate with 60 minutes of Zumba, funk, oldies and Afro-Brazilian grooves. The Raleigh nonprofit group's push for healthy living echoes first lady Michelle Obama's nationwide fight against childhood obesity, an epidemic that is also straining local neighborhoods. |
| Jul 21, 2010 |
IOC, WHO Sign Pact to Promote Healthy Lifestyles Associated Press, 07/21/2010 The International Olympic Committee and World Health Organization have agreed to work together to promote healthy lifestyles and tackle child obesity. IOC president Jacques Rogge and WHO director general Margaret Chan signed a five-year agreement Wednesday at Olympic headquarters. |
| Jul 20, 2010 |
Baseball Players Join First Lady’s Anti-Obesity Campaign New York Times, Jane L. Levere, 07/20/2010 Michelle Obama has enlisted Major League Baseball and its players’ association for a new public service advertising campaign to promote her program to eliminate childhood obesity. |
| Jul 20, 2010 |
Chef Tapped As City’s 1st Food Policy Director Boston Globe, Andrew Ryan, 07/20/2010 Edith Murnane has always been defined by food, from the bucolic 700-acre apple orchard where she grew up to her Jamaica Plain restaurant, which served an extraordinary chili that tempered the bite of chipotle peppers with dark Belgian chocolate. Now Mayor Thomas M. Menino has pulled Murnane out of the kitchen to employ her gastronomic know-how in a new way. Murnane has been named Boston’s first food policy director to help increase access to fresh eats and expand opportunities for urban farming. |
| Jul 20, 2010 |
Rand Corp. Researchers to Study Effects of Hill District Grocery Store Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Diana Nelson Jones, 07/20/2010 A thousand households in the Hill District will be the subject of a study that researchers say would be the first of its kind in the country to track a grocery store's impact on food-buying habits in a particular neighborhood over time. Researchers from the Rand Corp., with a $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health and help from the University of Pittsburgh Center for Social and Urban Research, will begin tracking food-buying and eating histories this year in anticipation of the proposed 2011 opening of a Shop 'n Save on Centre Avenue near Dinwiddie Street. |
| Jul 19, 2010 |
4 Farmers Markets Join Program to Get Fresh Foods to Those on Public Assistance Cleveland Plain Dealer, Emmanuel Romero, 07/19/2010 Four Cleveland farmers markets are taking part in a pilot program to encourage customers who receive food assistance to shop for fresh food. Starting this week, customers who carry the Ohio Direction card, a benefit formerly known as food stamps, will be able to shop at the Coit Road Farmers Market, Downtown Farmers' Market, Kamm's Corners Farmers Market and Tremont Farmers' Market. |
| Jul 19, 2010 |
West Cook Y to Share in Grant to End Child Obesity Pioneer Local, Bill Dwyer, 07/19/2010 The West Cook YMCA in Oak Park was selected on Monday to participate in a $6.8 million grant to tackle obesity in children. Sixteen Ys in the Midwest will take part in an expansion of the national organization's statewide Pioneering Healthier Communities, or PHC Initiative. The program, already in place in Connecticut, Kentucky and Tennessee, aims to reduce childhood obesity through “policy, systems and environmental changes that help transform communities, states and the nation,” according to the national YMCA. |
| Jul 19, 2010 |
Food, Fun — And Fat Boston Globe, Stephen Smith, 07/19/2010 The battle to shrink the waistlines of America’s children focuses increasingly on how food is marketed, including the use of toys as lures. Editor’s Note: This article mentions the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, which is an RWJF grantee. It also mentions a study by Lisa Powell of the University of Illinois at Chicago, which was funded by the Foundation through its program Bridging the Gap. |
| Jul 18, 2010 |
Schools Plan to Serve Fresh Produce in Effort to Curb Childhood Obesity Wasau Daily Herald, Keith Uhlig, 07/18/2010 Three local elementary schools will serve fresh vegetables and fruit snacks next school year as part of a federal program intended to curb childhood obesity. Kate Goodrich Elementary School in Merrill and Hawthorn Hills and Thomas Jefferson elementary schools in Wausau will receive about $54 per student to buy produce through the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. Goodrich will receive $20,555, Hawthorn Hills, $14,193, and Thomas Jefferson $16,042. |
| Jul 17, 2010 |
Group Working to Get Youth Moving, Healthy: Initiative Designed to Prevent Obesity, Help Underinsured Kids Iowa City Press-Citizen, Rob Daniel, 07/17/2010 A new group is hoping to help children and their families get moving more often. Get Moving for Healthy Kids is a recently developed program designed to encourage children and families to be more active and healthier. |
| Jul 17, 2010 |
Food Oasis Will Spring to Life Today St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Georgina Gustin, 07/17/2010 When the Old North Grocery Co-Op opens its doors for the first time today, it will have 15 members. But that, community organizers say, is just a step toward transforming the neighborhood through food. The co-op is the first grocery store in the community in recent memory, and will be the only place for residents to get fresh produce and a broad variety of healthy food. |
| Jul 16, 2010 |
City Builds Path to Healthier Life Through Web: New Page Offers Information on How Families Can Get Out, Get Active Columbus Dispatch, Vince Bond Jr., 07/16/2010 Promoters of healthy lifestyles in Columbus hope to move kids and their parents from the Internet to the outdoors through a new portal. With nearly half of Franklin County's third-graders dealing with obesity, the city launched a healthful-living website yesterday that features tips on how to eat and ways to stay active around the community. Getactivecolumbus.com provides information on coming events and map links for bike paths, walking routes and parks. |
| Jul 15, 2010 |
Community Works in Fight Against Obesity Sarasota Herald Tribune, Stephen J. Smith, 07/15/2010 http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100715/ARTICLE/7151060/2055/NEWSArea health care professionals, dietitians, teachers, fitness specialists and concerned parents attended a workshop Wednesday to help develop a school-based obesity intervention plan for students and families. |
| Jul 15, 2010 |
Snack Attack: Schools Try to Get the Junk Out Associated Press, Michelle Locke, 07/15/2010 It's not hard to figure out that stocking school vending machines with sugary sodas and salty, fatty snacks is a bad idea. Replacing those culinary culprits with something more nutritious is tougher. But a growing number of school districts around the country are trying anyway. |
| Jul 15, 2010 |
House Bill Would Make School Lunches Healthier Associated Press, Mary Clare Jalonick, 07/15/2010 House Democrats are moving forward on first lady Michelle Obama's vision for healthier school lunches, propelling legislation that calls for tougher standards governing food in school and more meals for hungry children. A bill approved by the House Education and Labor Committee Thursday would allow the Agriculture Department to create new standards for all food in schools, including vending machine items. The legislation would spend about $8 billion more over 10 years on nutrition programs. |
| Jul 15, 2010 |
Study: Lack of Fresh Food in Neighborhoods Hurts Health: Researchers Say 60 Local Communities Are 'Food Deserts,' With No Full-Service Groceries Charlotte Observer, Karen Sullivan, 07/15/2010 Roughly 73,000 people in low-income neighborhoods in Mecklenburg County are at greater risk of dying early from heart disease because they can't buy fresh produce, dairy or meat in their neighborhoods. Those are the conclusions of a study announced Wednesday at UNC Charlotte. |
| Jul 14, 2010 |
Debbie School Playground Teaches As It Provides Fun Miami Herald, Audrey Aradanas, 07/14/2010 About 200 volunteers redid the playground at the Debbie School as part of a project led by KaBoom!, a nonprofit organization that builds safe play places for children. |
| Jul 14, 2010 |
Vendors Asked to Make Healthy Menus Boston Globe, June Q. Wu, 07/14/2010 It’s like “Top Chef,’’ but with food trucks. Thomas M. Menino is inviting vendors to compete in Boston’s inaugural summer Food Truck Challenge — the latest city effort to promote healthy eating. Three contestants will be selected in the fall for their healthy menus and creative business plans, and the winning food trucks will snag a coveted spot on City Hall Plaza starting next spring, as well as financial support from the city. |
| Jul 14, 2010 |
Michelle Obama Fights Fat With Web Chat Politico, Catherine Cheney, 07/14/2010 First lady Michelle Obama, continuing her campaign against childhood obesity, on Tuesday held a live Web chat on “the new and improved” LetsMove.gov, an interactive website designed to encourage children and their parents to exercise and make better choices in their diets… She discussed the main pillars of her campaign: educating parents, improving food in schools, expanding access to healthful food and promoting physical education. |
| Jul 13, 2010 |
Obesity Prevention Works Best in the Under-5 Crowd "Health Blog" (Wall Street Journal blog), Katherine Hobson, 07/13/2010 Given that it’s so tough for the already-obese to shed weight, prevention would appear to be the key — and kids have been the primary focus of those efforts, including the White House’s own plan. But a study presented at an obesity conference in Sweden suggests the kind of community-based interventions that involve schools, parents and health-care institutions really work best in kids under age five. |
| Jul 12, 2010 |
First Lady Touts Anti-Childhood Obesity Initiative Associated Press, Bill Draper, 07/12/2010 A child obesity epidemic fed by fast food, sugary drinks and too much television threatens to create the first generation of American youths who live shorter lives than their parents, Michelle Obama said Monday. The first lady was keynote speaker at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's national convention in Kansas City. She spent much of her half-hour address discussing her "Let's Move" initiative to combat child obesity. |
| Jul 12, 2010 |
Kentucky Town of Manchester Illustrates National Obesity Crisis Washington Post, Wil Haygood, 07/12/2010 The residents of this town of 2,100 -- 95 miles southeast of Lexington and deep in the Appalachian foothills -- indeed appear to celebrate the joys of community closeness. The bake sales, the volunteering. But it's what goes uncelebrated, and even ignored, here that has become Manchester's defining feature: In an increasingly unhealthy country, it is one of the unhealthiest places of all. |
| Jul 11, 2010 |
Green Bay School District Receives Grant From Federally Funded Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Green Bay Press-Gazette, Patti Zarling, 07/11/2010 Students at some Green Bay schools will learn about fruits and veggies and get a healthy mid-afternoon snack next school year. Nine elementary schools in the Green Bay School District have received grants through the federally funded Fresh Fruit and Vegetable program, which aims to provide healthy snacks and nutritional information for certain at-risk schools. The state allocates funds in the federal program to districts. |
| Jul 9, 2010 |
More Food Choices Come To Chicago-Area Drugstores: CVS Adding Convenience Foods; Some Walgreens to Sell Fruit, Vegetables, Meat Chicago Sun-Times, Sandra Guy, 07/09/2010 CVS is doubling the amount of nonperishable food it sells in 11 Chicago stores, while Walgreen is introducing fresh fruits, vegetables and new meal ingredients to 10 of its stores inside Chicago's food deserts, where healthy food choices are scarce. |
| Jul 8, 2010 |
Boulder-Based Kids Nutrition Program Is a Contest Contender With Bite The Denver Post, Sheba R. Wheeler, 07/08/2010 A Boulder company's kid-friendly nutritional website is in the running for a $10,000 grand prize from Michelle Obama's campaign to combat childhood obesity. ZisBoomBah.com is one of 11 nationwide programs and the only entry accepted from Colorado in "The Apps for Healthy Kids" competition, a part of the first lady's Let's Move! The goal: developing engaging software that drives youths to eat better and be active.A Boulder company's kid-friendly nutritional website is in the running for a $10,000 grand prize from Michelle Obama's campaign to combat childhood obesity. ZisBoomBah.com is one of 11 nationwide programs and the only entry accepted from Colorado in "The Apps for Healthy Kids" competition, a part of the first lady's Let's Move! The goal: developing engaging software that drives youths to eat better and be active. |
| Jul 8, 2010 |
Family Meals, Vegetables May Keep Kids Trim Reuters, 07/08/2010 Children who regularly sit down to family meals and get plenty of vegetables in their diet tend to be thinner than their peers without such eating habits, a new study finds. The results, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, may not sound surprising. However, few studies have looked at the relationship between children's weight and their diet patterns -- which are more complex than, for example, sugar or fat intake. |
| Jul 8, 2010 |
Happy Meal Complaint Opens Pandora's Box: Debate Over Chain's Marketing Of Burgers, Fries With Toys Likely To Ramp Up, With Group Threatening Lawsuit Chicago Tribune, Monica Eng and Alejandra Cancino, 07/08/2010 Health advocates are involved in another season of rallying against the marketing of certain foods to kids. One California county this spring banned toys in most fast-food meals, while demonstrators in May called on Ronald McDonald to retire. In June, the Center for Science in the Public Interest threatened to sue McDonald's if it didn't stop using toys "to lure small children" to Happy Meals. On Wednesday, McDonald's responded, not with measured words but with a defiant defense of its kids meals, signaling another ramping up of the debate about whether it is appropriate to use advertising and the promise of a toy to entice children into wanting burgers, fries and the like. |
| Jul 7, 2010 |
Food Czar Hopes to Change the Way Baltimore Eats Associated Press, Ben Nuckols, 07/07/2010 Last month, Baltimore hired a food policy coordinator, making the city one of the first in the country with a paid "food czar." While Holly Freishtat's directive may be straightforward — get more healthy food on the tables of the people who need it — accomplishing it may not be. |
| Jul 7, 2010 |
Kids See Fewer Ads for Sweets, More for Fast Food: Analysis of TV Advertising Also Uncovers Racial Gap, Researchers Say HealthDay, Robert Preidt, 07/07/2010 American children are seeing fewer TV ads for candy and beverages, but more fast food commercials, finds a new study. Editor’s Note: This study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through its program Bridging the Gap. |
| Jul 6, 2010 |
Pediatrician Looking to Start Obesity Clinic in Great Falls Great Falls Tribune, Erin Madison, 07/06/2010 From local pediatrician Dr. Michael Garver's perspective, a lot more has been done to collect statistics about childhood obesity than to solve the problem. "We need to stop measuring the problem," said Garver, of Premiere Care Pediatrics. "The time for implementation needs to begin." Garver's vision for helping decrease obesity in Great Falls is to create a multi-disciplinary obesity clinic. |
| Jul 6, 2010 |
USDA Says Soda Taxes Really Work “Food” (Atlantic blog), Marion Nestle, 07/06/2010 By analogy with cigarettes, taxes on sodas might discourage people—especially young people—from consuming sugary drinks. This might help with weight issues. |
| Jul 6, 2010 |
Sugary-Drink Ban Starts to Affect S.F. Sites San Francisco Chronicle, John Coté, 07/06/2010 Coca-Cola is out, and soy milk is now part of San Francisco's official city policy. Under an executive order from Mayor Gavin Newsom, Coke, Pepsi and Fanta Orange are no longer allowed in vending machines on city property, although their diet counterparts are - up to a point. |
| Jul 5, 2010 |
Federal Program Credited With Cutting Diabetes Among Indians Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Elizabeth Bewley, 07/05/2010 A government program aimed at curbing the disproportionately high rate of diabetes among Native Americans has only one year left, and supporters are urging its renewal. "The rate of those suffering from diabetes is alarming, and we need to continue to build on our efforts to combat it," said Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D. "We made some strides in improving health in Indian Country earlier this year with the passage of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act as part of comprehensive health care reform, but there is still a lot of work to do." |
| Jul 5, 2010 |
Phila. Using Stimulus Funds to Fight Obesity, Smoking Philadelphia Inquirer, Alfred Lubrano, 07/05/2010 In the bleak cityscape of Philadelphia's poorer neighborhoods, the corner store is both convenience and curse, stocking milk and cheese, as well as junk food and cigarettes. Thanks to federal stimulus money recently pumped into the city, such stores may also start carrying healthier foods, like fresh produce. Editor's Note: The Food Trust, mentioned in this article, is an RWJF grantee. |
| Jul 4, 2010 |
5 Questions with Surgeon General Regina Benjamin on Childhood Obesity Detroit Free Press, Robin Erb, 07/04/2010 Q:Of all the health topics you can tackle, why childhood obesity? A:Since 1980, obesity has doubled in adults and tripled in children. That, to me, is just astonishing. ... I certainly understand what parents are going through. They're very busy, and trying to juggle all these balls and keep them in the air is very hard. But the real thing is the long-term effects -- the heart disease, diabetes, the strokes, that as a doctor, I would be seeing in the next 10 years. That was really, really frightening. |
| Jul 4, 2010 |
5 Questions with Surgeon General Regina Benjamin on Childhood Obesity Detroit Free Press, Robin Erb, 07/04/2010 Q:Of all the health topics you can tackle, why childhood obesity? A:Since 1980, obesity has doubled in adults and tripled in children. That, to me, is just astonishing. ... I certainly understand what parents are going through. They're very busy, and trying to juggle all these balls and keep them in the air is very hard. But the real thing is the long-term effects -- the heart disease, diabetes, the strokes, that as a doctor, I would be seeing in the next 10 years. That was really, really frightening. |
| Jul 4, 2010 |
Overweight Kids: Shape of the Future: University of New England Researchers Sound the Alarm About Obesity Trends in 'The Work Force of Tomorrow.' Portland Press Herald, John Richardson, 07/04/2010 Maine employers are already coping with rising costs related to overweight and obese workers. But they are in for a lot more if youth obesity rates stay as high as they are now, according to new research by the University of New England. |
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