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Lisa

Articles by Lisa

17 Year-Old Creates Healthy Cooking Camp



Camp Cauliflower is a cooking camp in Novato, Calif., where young students are learning what healthy cooking looks like for one week. Created by 17-year-old high school senior, Elena Dennis, the camp encourages young students to create healthy meals from the garden to the kitchen. Students harvest, cut, chop and cook alongside their older peers throughout the classes, all while learning what it takes to create a well-balanced meal. Elena, interested in starting this camp to encourage healthier diets for younger classmates,  wanted to use her passion for cooking and nutrition in her school. She set out to make her dream of Camp Cauliflower become a reality in 2014 by asking food and nutrition director of Novato School District, Miguel Villarreal, to help her start her ...

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Soda sales decrease as consumers choose healthier options


kid drinking water

Water bottle sales have nearly tripled compared to the falling rates of soda consumption, reports the New York Times. This prompts the question, do the studies showing the link between obesity and consumption of sugary beverages make an impact? J. Alexander M. Douglas Jr., president of Coca-Cola North America, was quoted in the same article: “Health and wellness are a major enduring trend and each brand has to compete in that environment." But healthier beverage options are not just trending across certain states. They are being proven as recent market reports show a noticeable decrease in soda consumption. Sugary beverage taxes are not popular in all states, as in California, but a growing amount of sugary beverage consumers may be realizing the health warnings associated ...

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Exposure to Chemicals Tied to Risk of Obesity and Diabetes


Exposure to chemicals

The Endocrine Society recently published research that reveals exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is associated with increased risk of developing diabetes and obesity. These common chemicals are found in everyday items like food can linings, cash register receipts, plastics, cosmetics, flame retardants and pesticides. “The evidence is more definitive than ever before – EDCs disrupt hormones in a manner that harms human health,” said Andrea C. Gore, Professor and Vacek Chair of Pharmacology at the University of Texas at Austin, in a recent Newswise article. Gore went on to state that, “Hundreds of studies are pointing to the same conclusion, whether they are long-term epidemiological studies in human, basic research in animals and cells, or research into ...

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Math and Gardening in the Classroom?


Math and Gardening

How does math calculate with gardening? Giving students a hands-on approach to calculation, social studies, science and more, schools like Hannah Elementary School in Beverly, Massachusetts (17% Latinos in MA) are opening their doors to a garden classroom education. Students are able to conceptualize life cycles of bugs and anatomies of seeds. School gardens become places of inspiration for creative writing or art. Green City Growers, City Sprouts, and Berkeley's Edible Schoolyard project are all about gardens being interactive classrooms where students learn to grow their minds and their knowledge of healthy foods like fruits and vegetables. Learning about healthy foods and incorporating these foods into kids' diets and classrooms are important in areas where healthy food ...

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Veggies Help Health of Overweight Kids


Healthier Foods and Drinks carrots

Getting kids to eat vegetables isn't always an easy job, especially when some families are more likely to live in neighborhoods that have little to no access to local grocery stores. However, a recent research study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics suggests that Latino kids who consume more vegetables in their diets, are healthier overall, even if they are overweight. The study reveals that kids who are eating vegetables, like spinach, broccoli or carrots, even for just a fraction of their diet, can reduce bad fats in the body. The study focused on a group of overweight Latino children, monitored by a researchers from The Keck School of Medicine, and the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). They found that children who consume one or two fist-size ...

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Kids Get Healthy Eating Lessons at Farmers Markets in Oregon



A farmer's market is a lot of fun—for parents only, usually. Kids often just tag along, glumly, as their parents busily shop for fresh fruits and vegetables. That is, until the Market Sprouts Kids Club. Kaely Summers and other farmer's market managers in Oregon teamed up to create the Market Sprouts Kids Club program to teach local kids who come to the market about farming, fresh produce, and healthy eating. Now kids ages 5-12 who visit local markets, like Summers' Forest Grove Farmer's Market in Forest Grove, Ore., (23.1% Latino), do fun, interactive activities alongside farmers and volunteers who teach about healthier foods and healthier choices! Farmer's Markets and Children in Oregon Officials with Adelante Mujeres, a non-profit organization fin Forest Grove, have been ...

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Creating a ‘Magic Bean’ Curriculum for Healthy Nutrition



What so great about beans? Grad student Kelly Atterberry and mentor Carol Miles have the answer in their new bean-based garden and nutrition curriculum for K-12 students in Washington. By encouraging kids to learn to garden and try nutritious pulse crops (beans, lentils, peas, etc.), they hope the curriculum can help combat obesity and diet-related health problems among children. Why Beans? Kelly Atterberry originally wanted to go nursing school. Then she learned about agriculture and growing healthy food while working on a farm and again later while working in the Agriculture Research Station at Washington State University (WSU) in Mount Vernon, Washington (33.7 % Latino). So she switched her career course. As a grad student at WSU, she studied agriculture, which united her ...

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Kellogg Cuts Out Artificial Foods & Coloring


Chemical Labels

Many packaged food companies and fast food restaurants are nixing artificial foods. Kellogg has jumped on this bandwagon and has recently stated they will stop using artificial colors and ingredients in their products. Kellogg's, the world's largest cereal company, plans to have all fake ingredients out of their boxes by the end of 2018. Other companies like General Mills are also upping their standards against unnatural ingredients, due to consumer demand, and making a goal to rid all artificial ingredients by 2016, in at least 90 percent of it's cereals. Trying to rebrand their products for "wellness" and add more healthy options like muesli and varieties of granola, Kellogg hopes to regain the consumers who are overwhelmingly making an impact on the company's stocks. In fact, ...

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Back To School Healthy Eating Tips


Students eating lunch

The end of the summer is near, and as school lunches must be packed, parents are wondering what to put in their kid's lunch. Will what a student eats, make him or her achieve better results in school? A recent article states that hydration, nutrition and sleep are key areas to help kids succeed in school. In fact, Mary Pat Turon-Findley MS, RD, LD, a clinical dietitian in the Division of Nutrition Therapy at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, encourages parents to start prepping kids with healthy meals, plenty of rest and sleep one week before school starts. Some Tips for a fresh start to the new school year are as follows: Start with a healthy morning meal ( fresh eggs, fruit, whole grains, low-fat dairy products) Make sure students have a healthy ...

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