A recent study from scholars at the Center for Healthy Policy at the University of New Mexico on Hispanic children in the Rio Grande Valley found that obesity is not the only health issue affecting youth. Although obesity has been the main issue with the diet and health of Hispanic youth, malnutrition due to a limited diet is becoming an major concern. The study found that in the Rio Grande Valley Hispanic children ages 2-19 tend to be more malnourished and overweight or obese than non-Hispanic children, but the healthy-weight Hispanic youth have higher rates of being malnourished than their obese counterparts. Malnutrition in young children can stunt growth and cause irreversible issues. Although researchers are emphasizing a diet that is full of low-fat or low-calorie options, ...
Busy families on the go often turn to unhealthy fast food for a quick, inexpensive meal. But what if a quick, inexpensive meal wasn't always filled with junk? First lady Michelle Obama has enlisted Subway in her mission to get kids to eat more fruits and vegetables, hoping to merge convenience and nutrition. As the default kids meal options, Subway is offering apples instead of chips and either milk or water over soda. The meals are 600 calories or less, contain no trans fat and provide at least a half serving of fruit and three-quarters of a serving of vegetables. The restaurant will also begin a 41 million dollar marketing effort aimed at encouraging kids to eat more fruits and veggies. Signs will adorn the doors of every one of Subway’s more than 25,000 U.S. locations, ...
A bill limiting the size of sugary drinks was introduced into the Hawaii state legislature in January 2014. The bill would set a maximum serving size of sixteen fluid ounces for sugar-sweetened beverages in sealed and unsealed containers provided by food establishments and prohibits the sale of sugar-sweetened beverages as part of children's meals. Read the bill ...
A report and infographic from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) shows the mental, physical, and academic benefits of students receiving 60 minutes of physical activity per day. The IOM report says that even with busy schedules, youth can get 60 minutes of physical activity per day through taking advantage of active transportation to and from school, classroom activity time and brain breaks, recess with free play and engaging equipment, physical education class, after-school programs, and intra and extramural sports. Physical Education classes are a big contribution to the amount of active play students have in their school day, but have been pushed aside due to financial and academic pressures in recent years. IOM suggest that PE classes need to be a priority and should include a ...
It's no secret that improving food choices in hospitals, parks, and community centers would benefit kids health. But actually getting it done---that's the tough part. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has published a ton of helpful resources to help communities get healthier food choices into public places. These resources can help you to improve food and beverage options served and sold through vending machines, cafeterias, concession stands, meetings, and events. You'll find info on nutrition standards, tips for success, model policies that have already been successful, and more. View all the ...
According to architectural engineer and CEO of HemisFair Park Andres Andujar, every great city should have a great park. Now with support from San Antonio's leadership and the Hemisfair Park Area Redevelopment Corporation (HPARC), the city will transform Hemisfair Park into Hemisfair, a place where people could eat, work, play, and live. To learn more about Hemisfair and the coming changes to San Antonio's downtown area watch the video below entitled Meet Hemisfair. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuxOJRuT8Kk Learn more about this project which is scheduled to be complete in 2020 by visiting the Hemisfair ...
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick delivered his final state budget plan to lawmakers in January 2014. The budget included some measures that would help fund public health initiatives and potentially help folks reduce their sugary drink consumption. Patrick is proposing $57 million in new revenue by applying the state's sales tax to candy and soda. That proposal has been rejected by lawmakers in the past, but Patrick again made the argument in favor of the tax saying the money would go to support public health and infrastructure projects. Read more ...
The American Heart Association and NFL Play 60 plan to release a new fitness app for kids just in time for Super Bowl XLVIII (2014). The app, which is free, seeks to get kids to be more active and participate in at least 60 minutes of physical activity everyday. Because smartphones carry the capacity to capture motion, the team sees this technology as the perfect way to measure activity levels while keeping kids excited about moving. The app is very much like a video game in that it allows users to choose an avatar (digital character) and complete a virtual running experience. It's designed to be interactive so kids will be able to rake up points in order to unlock new outfits for their avatars. The app will also provide kids with ideas for staying active. In the past the ...
In collaboration with researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago, researchers at the Rudd Center present the Center’s Revenue Calculator for Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxes, an online tool which offers estimates of revenue from taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). This calculator, which was revised in January of 2014, produces expected revenue from a penny-per-ounce tax on SSBs by beverage type, state, city and year (2013-2017). Researchers used the most recently available public and proprietary data on beverage consumption, population, pricing, as well as socio-demographic information on the variation in SSB consumption to populate the updated calculator. Check out the money your city or state could raise by taxing ...
