Grants were recently given to help eradicate hunger and bring healthier foods to Southern Arizona, which currently deals with low food access, according to recent county health rankings. The grants were received by various organizations that have already started initiatives to bring healthier foods to Arizona, including The Willcox Community Food Pantry, The University of Arizona, The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, the Vitalyst Health Foundation, Feeding Matters, The Arizona Community Foundation and various other organizations. Many of the funds will go to help expand and develop programs that help to build or sustain programs around healthy eating, gardens, and agricultural supply chains. Healthy food access is vital for Latino youth, who often live in areas far from ...
New Wellness Policy guidelines and Smart Snack rules from the U.S. Department of Agriculture have officially been announced, ensuring that more students will have access to healthier foods in schools. The rules require schools to promote healthy eating habits and require that food marketed in schools must meet Smart Snacks nutrition standards. For snacks in schools to meet this requirement they must offer healthier vending machines, school stores, and a la carte cafeteria lines. These food environments must offer fresh fruits, water, and vegetables, and are allowed to offer other snack products but they all must be free from candy or sodas. These new rules will continue to build a culture of health ensuring healthier food is available in schools and impacting not only the ...
Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Carnegie Mellon University encourage anyone who is hungry to order their food before they get hungry. Why? In a recent study, researchers found that temptations for unhealthy foods that are high in calories often happens when people are ordering food on impulse or in the moment. The study examined two studies of 690 employees online lunch orders, and 195 university students catering lunch options, where a cut of at least thirty calories consistently. Researchers explained that this can help restaurants and other food providers generate health benefits for customers by offering an opportunity online to order food in advance. To learn more about this study, click ...
The tax on sugary beverages like soda and juices sparked debate about citizens losing jobs, but since it's approval in June, the city has been working on posting hiring for city jobs that will be funded by the tax. The salaries of the 40 new jobs including health, school, and data analyst jobs that are planned to be paid by the city's general fund until the city begins collecting the soda tax in January. The most jobs will be in education, helping create nine community schools, giving opportunities first and foremost to the citizens that understand the community, spokeswoman for the mayor's Office of Education, Deana Gamble explained to local news. An education coordinator will also be hired to help small businesses understand and implement the taxes. To learn more about this ...
According to a local article, Representative Peter Welch announced support and co-sponsorship of two bills that support summer meals on July 19th at a local middle school. The bills will help support students in need of healthy meals while school is out and kids have less access to healthier school meals, that include more fruits and vegetables. The local article explains how the bills supported will help provide low-income eligible households with a debit card that gives families funds for fresh local foods that also in turn support Vermont's agriculture economy. Support of this legislation will also help redefine areas of which low-income economic conditions exist, to ensure more children have access to free meals. Summer meal sites are sparse in Burlington, where 2016 data ...
A new study from researchers at Tufts University and the University of Cambridge reports that eating more unsaturated fats or saturated fats in place of dietary carbohydrates lowers blood sugar levels and improves insulin resistance and secretion. According to the Mayo Clinic, healthy fats consist of mainly monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats, like certain types of fish and nuts, as well as room temperature oils like olive oil, safflower oil, and peanut oil. Fats to avoid are found in beef, butter, shortening and pork. The findings of the study looked at 102 randomized controlled trials of over four thousand adults, who had meals that varied in types of amounts of fat and carbs. The study revealed that for each five percent of dietary energy switched from carbs to saturated ...
Having access to clean drinkable water and healthy fresh foods is vital in ensuring children grow up to be a healthy weight. New funds from the state's congressional delegation recently announced that $2.1 million in funds will go to help position new AmeriCorps members into volunteer services for the state. One organization called the Washington County Youth Service Bureau Boys and Girls Club, will help to ensure children of veteran and military families grow up to be a healthy weight. They will receive $325,000 for 26 volunteers, that will help to implement initiatives to help prevent childhood obesity in the state. More funds will also be used to help position AmeriCorps members in addressing problems in affordable housing, water quality, and veteran affairs. To ...
Schools in California will now be having access to safe drinking water, as California Governor Jerry Brown approved $9.5 million in the state's budget to ensure school filtration systems provide students clean water. California has dealt with various droughts, leading to contamination and shortages of clean water creating a lack of access to safe drinking water in many homes, businesses, and schools. Over 100 schools will be helped by the funds, addressing previous issues of lead and uranium that was found in some schools water fountains. However, an estimated 980 to 1,690 schools are still dealing with water contamination issues. The Drinking Water Advocates Coalition applauded the Governor and Legislator for taking these vital steps to ensure safe drinking water in the middle ...
A new government study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state that teens are preferring water more often than soda. According to a recent article, the CDC surveyed teens in 2015, finding 74% of students drank one or more glasses of water a day, and 26% of students reported not drinking any sugary soda at all in seven days, up from 19% in 2007. President of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), Michale Jacobson explained in the article that many campaigns have been educating parents and kids about the harms that soda consumption can lead to in one's health, leading efforts to reduce sugary drinks in schools, public vending machines, and with soda taxes, limiting students on these options and helping them to cut out sugary drinks from their ...
