Learn how school wellness policies, shared use agreements, complete street policies, and biking to school can all help increase levels of physical activity for children by utilizing this resource. The Public Health Law Center (PHLC) provides good information on legal aspects of active living with a special emphasis on the state of Minnesota. Access the PHLC's Active Living portal here for policy briefs, fact sheets, and more on how to create an active environment. The In Pursuit of an Active Education policy brief, which can be accessed from the platform, provides information on six promising policy approaches to improve levels of physical ...
We all know that healthier school meals improve kids' diets. But did you know kids' like them? The first national surveys of school leaders show that the majority of students like the new healthier lunches schools are offering after USDA’s improved nutrition standards went into effect in fall 2012. This study is done by Bridging the Gap, a nationally recognized research program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation dedicated to improving the understanding of how policies and environmental factors affect diet, physical activity and obesity among youth, as well as youth tobacco use. In elementary school the study finds that there hasn't been a significant impact on participation in the school lunch program. Sixty‐five percent of public elementary schools reported no overall ...
Mexico is restricting television advertising for high-calorie food and soft drinks, as part of its campaign against obesity, the government says.
Such ads will be banned with immediate effect on terrestrial and cable TV between 14:30 and 19:30 on weekdays and between 07:30 and 19:30 at weekends. Restrictions will also be imposed on similar ads shown at the cinema.
Seventy percent of adults and 30% of children in Mexico are obese or overweight, official figures suggest. Mexico is going further than any other country in restricting advertising. The UK, Norway and Quebec province in Canada, all have bans on advertising junk food in children's television. However, this has not stopped the adverts appearing in more popular "family" programming. So the fizzy drinks and greasy ...
We all know that healthier school meals improve kids' diets. But did you know kids' like them? The first national surveys of school leaders show that the majority of students like the new healthier lunches schools are offering after USDA’s improved nutrition standards went into effect in fall 2012. This study is done by Bridging the Gap, a nationally recognized research program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation dedicated to improving the understanding of how policies and environmental factors affect diet, physical activity and obesity among youth, as well as youth tobacco use. In elementary school the study finds that there hasn't been a significant impact on participation in the school lunch program. Sixty‐five percent of public elementary schools reported no overall ...
Germaine Jenkins is a certified master gardener in North Charleston, an area of Charleston, South Carolina that is low income and lacks access to a full-service grocery store. She's got a big vision for a new way to bring healthy, fresh food into her neighborhood.
Jenkins wants to establish a nonprofit urban farm, Fresh Future Farm, on 0.75 acres of the grounds of a former elementary school. It would be more than just a place to grow and buy fruits and vegetables: It would be an entire community food operation, with an on-site store to sell produce, toiletries and other groceries. School groups and residents could come to tour the facilities or take classes on farming, cooking and the food industry, and underemployed people in the area could be trained on the skills they'd ...
The national childhood obesity rate has leveled off, but rates are still far too high – and racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities persist with more than 39% of Latino kids overweight or obese. What needs to happen to show bigger results, faster? Join leaders from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, American Heart Association, City of Philadelphia Government, UCSF School of Medicine, & AcademyHealth for a TEDMED Great Challenges Hangout about childhood obesity, and how we can all make sure ALL children can grow up at a healthy weight. How do we make sure all children can grow up at a healthy weight? What are some of the underlying environmental and societal causes that must be addressed? What could corporate, community and policy leaders do to further address this critical ...
When summer days get hot, what are you grabbing to drink? One local nonprofit in Lane County, Oregon has launched a campaign to encourage youth to reach for water, not sugary drinks. Lane Coalition for Healthy Active Youth (LCHAY), an organization working to reduce childhood obesity in Lane County, launched their Win With Water campaign in July 2014. The campaign features posters and brochures with information about the dangers of excess sugar and encourages youth to pick water instead. “Whether you are a Duck or a Beaver every body wins with water!” says the campaign's slogan. Right now posters are featured at Amazon Pool, and the city of Eugene has contributed Win With Water-branded water bottles to the campaign. LCHAY is ready to distribute posters and ...
Dr. Cynthia Mojica, a researcher at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, is among five new appointees to the Advisory Committee on Minority Health for the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The 10-member committee advises the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health on improving the health of racial and ethnic minority populations. Members are appointed by the secretary for their minority health expertise. Mojica, who will serve on the committee through 2018, has extensive experience conducting research in cancer prevention and control. She has made strides to increase cancer screening and diagnostic follow-up, as well as obesity prevention, with an emphasis on ...
Many state and local government have begun tightening-up their food and beverage polices, ensuring that healthy options are in the mix of food and drinks sold on city property. Most recently, the District of Columbia has joined the ranks. D.C. will soon require that at least half of the foods and beverages sold through vending machines and elsewhere on D.C. property meet healthy nutrition standards. The proposal was part of the recently-passed D.C. budget. It sets nutrition standards for the food and drink sold in vending machines, retail establishments, and at meetings and events in D.C. owned and operated buildings and grounds. The standards, modeled on existing federal guidelines, encourage the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-calorie beverages, water and ...
