A new bill in West Virginia might require kids to spend additional time in PE. The new piece of legislation called, The Move To Improve Act, made it through the Senate in February 2014 and will now undergo review by the House. According to a WSAZ News3 report, the bill requires elementary school children to get at least 30 minutes of PE, three times a week. For middle school students the bill requires one full period of PE per day with at least 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. High schoolers would have the option of participating in an elective lifetime physical education course, but would be required to have only one full credit of PE upon graduation. To read more about this in the news, click ...
Many kids living in Toledo, Ohio visit local corner stores to grab a quick snack. Chips, candy, and soda are always available; fresh produce like apples and oranges, not as much. For some families, these corner stores are the closest food stores they have to their home, which makes eating healthy difficult. But big changes are coming to Toledo. Thanks to a collaboration by the YMCA, The United Way and the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, by the end of summer 2014, 23 kiosks offering fresh, fairly priced and locally grown produce will be set up in Stop and Go stores around the city. The hope is that people will go for the fresh produce, and side-step the sweets. Read more about the healthy plans in the ...
Winston-Salem, North Carolina has the most USDA-declared food deserts, low-income areas with poor access to full-service grocery stores, in all of Forsyth County. City officials have been trying for years to convince grocery store chain owners to move to these underserved neighborhoods, but with no luck. The state of North Carolina has been actively searching for solutions to get folks the healthy foods they need. On Monday March 24, 2014, the North Carolina state House Committee on Food Desert Zones met for a third time since February in an effort to study the problem and make recommendations on how to deal with it. Representatives from grassroots food co-operatives, food banks and mobile grocers, among other nutrition experts, spoke to the committee about their ...
Are you interested in making a difference in the life of a child? If so, then learning about effective policies and programs for childhood obesity prevention can be the ticket to better health in you community. In order to equip you with the tools you need to get started, the Texas Pediatric Society is hosting the "Be Our Voice Advocacy Training," on Saturday May 17, 2014 from 8:30am-4:30 pm at the Texas Medical Association Building in Austin, Texas. Teams of 3-5 community members with at least one health professional (community healthy worker, social worker, researcher, clinician) are invited to register by April 21, 2014. Groups that are selected will participate for free. The training will discuss topics such as: Partnerships, collaboration, and the obesity prevention call ...
San Antonio's sixth semi-annual open streets event, Síclovía, is set to take place on Sunday March 30, 2014, from 11am- 4pm. This year, the event will be held in the city's "artsy" Southtown district. Over 65,000 individuals are expected to attend activities which will include: free fitness stations, a farmer's market, a tree give away, pet adoptions, and 2.5 miles of open road for cycling, skating, and jogging. A team from the Better Block organization will demonstrate some great ideas for improving streets and unused lots. Meanwhile the YMCA will provide fun activities to keep kids active. The course will start at the intersection of South St. Mary's street and Cesar E. Chavez Blvd and run down East Mitchell street and Mission road, all the way to Mission Concepcíon. To ...
A proposed change in Denver, Colorado's zoning code would allow people to skip the grocery store and buy homegrown produce from their neighbors. This, some city council members say, could help folks who don't live close to grocery stores get access to healthy fresh fruits and vegetables. The amendment would allow residents to sell from their homes uncut fruits and vegetables, whole eggs, and home-prepared food products such as jellies, jams, honey, teas, herbs, spices and some baked goods. According to the proposed amendment, home-based vendors could post a small sign on their property, measuring no more than 100 square inches. Sales could take place from portable furniture such as folding tables, but not from permanent stands. Each home's sales would be limited to $5,000 a year ...
Researchers in New York say that having a school garden could boost physical activity levels by up to 10 minutes a day. In a recent study conducted across twelve different elementary schools in five New York Regions, researchers from Cornell learned that students were up to four times more active when attending schools with gardens. According to Nancy Wells, an environmental psychologist and the researcher who lead the two-year study, although kids were only spending one to two hours a week in the school's garden, significant increases in physical activity were seen. The initiative was part of the "Healthy Gardens, Healthy Youth" People's Garden School Pilot Project, which aims to introduce fruit and vegetable gardens to more than 4,000 kids in low-income schools throughout New ...
On Wednesday March 19, 2014, members of a statewide task force that had been studying the rise in childhood obesity in North Carolina came together with other heath care professionals, policy and public health experts, child care providers and parents to go over the task force’s final report, which includes detailed recommendations for how to tackle the problem. The summit was the first public opportunity to discuss the 169-page “Promoting Healthy Weight for Young Children: A Blueprint for Preventing Early Childhood Obesity in North Carolina.” The blueprint was the culmination of two years of work by the N.C. Institute of Medicine’s Task Force on Early Childhood Obesity. It was created in collaboration with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation and the ...
Students at West Seattle Elementary---a low-income school with a 20% Latino population---get extra minutes of physical activity by participating in a walking school bus. To show his support for this healthy change, Governor Jay Inslee of Washington State recently joined students on a 1-mile walk to school. According to a news report from the Houston Chronicle, the walking school bus is part of a four year study conducted by the Seattle Children's Hospital, to learn more about the health benefits of walking to and from school. This action falls in-line the Governor's efforts to improve the weight of children in the state of Washington. In a recent policy brief, the governor proposed his Healthiest Next Generation Initiative, which focuses on supporting: Breastfeeding-friendly ...
