It's no secret that most fast food kids' menus don't offer many healthy options. With parents and nutritionists pressuring top fast food restaurants to put more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables on kids' menus, some chains are testing the waters. McDonald's announced that Cuties clementines from Sun Pacific will be added as a seasonal fruit option this fall; "junior" bananas are being tested and even blueberries are under consideration as a future option, revealed Greg Watson, senior vice president of menu innovation, in a USA TODAY article. McDonald's increasingly is looking at whole fruits that would rotate according to season and that require less labor and packaging than the current apple slices, which have been a huge hit with more than 1.1 billion packages sold since ...
Voices For Healthy Kids, a joint initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and American Heart Association (AHA) that works to help all kids eat healthier foods and be more active, has released a toolkit on access to healthy and affordable foods in corner stores entitled “Just Around the Corner.” This toolkit is a compilation of facts, sample materials, and guidance on how to build, engage, and mobilize a social change movement in your state or community on this critical issue. The toolkit is wrapped together by a unique theme designed to maximize interest and action to increase shared use. Together with a collection of parallel toolkits on other proven social change strategies to help kids live more active, healthful lives, Voices for Healthy Kids wants to ...
Chicago is no stranger to healthy food access issues, making it a fitting location for the fourth annual International Critical Dietetics Conference, which is set to focus on issues like food deserts, food justice, and food assistance programs. The conference will take place at Dominican University. There is a free forum on Aug. 16 that will address three main issues, with a panel of speakers for each one: food access and federal food stamp program cuts, economic justice for food workers, and holding agribusiness industries accountable for their environmental and health effects. Jill White, the chairwoman of the nutrition science department at the university, said in a local news article that she hopes the forum draws people from the Chicago area for discussion on the issues at ...
While soda sales are seeing declines, the sales of other sugary drinks, like energy, sports, tea and fruit drinks, is growing rapidly based on misleading health claims, according to a study by UC Berkeley's Atkins Center for Weight and Health (CWH). Check out their findings and download the press release and fact sheets in English and ...
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission and IT'S TIME TEXAS are collaborating with organizations across the state to provide the first, annual series of SNAP Education workshops that will focus on regional obesity prevention efforts. Program leaders representing various backgrounds including schools, health and human services, and faith- and community-based organizations, will come together for a 1.5 day interactive learning experience to gain insight from leaders in the industry and network with innovative minds across the state to help make healthy the norm in Texas by utilizing existing resources and collaborating within their communities. These workshops are free of charge and will provide continuing education credit for multiple disciplines. The last two workshops are ...
When a small grocery store in York, PA closed in order to make way for more affordable housing, the neighborhood was left without a local shop to buy fruit and vegetables. Two years later, the small store is opening for business inside the housing property, giving low-income folks who live there and nearby a place to get fresh, healthy produce. Green Food Market is set to open this weekend in a city where almost 30% of residents are Latino. Larry Richardson, president of the Y Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit affiliated with the York YMCA, said that his group is working with local health experts and the owner of Green Food Market to stock the corner store with healthy options. Richardson, who is also president and CEO of YMCA of York and York County, said his ...
The tri-city area of Bloomington, Edina, and Richfield has a growing Latino population and a desire to see all three cities become healthier and happier. Bloomington Public Health established the Tri-City Partners for Healthy Communities to be the leadership team for efforts to support better health in the region. Tri-City Partners for Healthy Communities recently announced they are awarding grants for efforts that increase healthy food access in the three cities. Community groups, organizations or collaborations in Bloomington, Edina or Richfield are eligible to apply. Three to six projects will receive grants up to $2,500. Projects that increase healthy food access might include ones that make healthy foods easier to obtain or lower in price. The projects may be new or existing, ...
The science that links excess sugary drink consumption and obesity is clear, especially for Latino kids. As the summer seasons draws to a close, have you and your kids been hydrating with healthy drinks? There is still time to make healthy changes before school starts! PreventObesity, an online national network of people dedicated to reducing childhood obesity, is currently running a campaign to ask folks to pledge to cut out sugary drinks this summer. They ask: What will you do to give your community a sweeter summer with fewer sugary drinks? Some individuals have already committed to: - Ask community leaders to improve water quality in parks and schools.
-Serve or bring no-sugar drinks to the next community event.
- Ask a local business to offer more healthy drink ...
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) provide financial services and credit to benefit underserved neighborhoods. Because a growing number of CDFIs are financing the development of grocery stores and other food retail options in underserved communities, they have become an important partner for public health advocates seeking to increase access to quality, affordable food. ChangeLab Solutions, in collaboration with The Food Trust, developed this guide to discuss CDFIs as an alternative to conventional lending for financing supermarkets and other small businesses. Read the ...
