A new Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study shows that school lunches are getting healthier but there are still factors that limit healthy foods for Latino students, minority students and students from lower socioeconomic status. Fresh fruit and salad bar access increased from 16.4 percent to 31.5 percent, but mainly in the western area of the nation. Schools in the Northeast, Midwest, or South of the country were less likely to offer salad bars. Schools are where kids consume most of their daily calories, having healthy fresh fruit and vegetable options available may help decrease Latino students high risks for diet-related diseases like diabetes. To read the full study, click here. To see more of why it is important for Latino kids to have healthy school ...
New cooking classes at Weymouth Middle School are helping kids think twice about how to make a pizza crust and how to eat at home with new ingredients in their recipes. John Mullaney, the health class teacher said this idea came up after brainstorming ideas, and he discussed the idea of creating new healthier recipes with the school district's dietitian, Kelsey Massis of Chartwells Food Service. He wanted to help kids come up with new ingredients that use less sugar and less flour with his student's recipes while cooking in class. Mullaney hoped that kids would be creative, and they were. Students like Brook Pelley used skim milk and low-fat cheese in her macaroni and cheese, and Brook Ferbert who used a salsa that had a variety of fresh vegetables. Other students used ...
Fuel Up To Play 60 teaches kids football moves, and interactive games helping kids move more in school and eat healthier. A launch to help promote the program recently took place Wednesday, March 17th at Redskins Park where student participated in an "Iron Chef" style competition to create the best smoothie. Students from three elementary schools who had pre-submitted their recipes worked at preparing a healthy dairy-based smoothie for judges and special Redskin football players to try. Judges enjoyed a 'Berry Banana Blitz' that had low-fat greek yogurt, a 'Sunshine Burst', which had fresh fruit and flax seeds, and a 'Laney Loo Loo' smoothie, that included chia seeds into the fresh fruit mix. Winner of the competition was Loudoun County Public Schools, receiving $40,000 from ...
It will take all sectors of society to solve the obesity crisis. That's why on April 12, 2016, Dr. Amelie Ramirez and the rest of the Roundtable on Obesity Solutions will conduct a workshop on how business leaders can get involved in fighting obesity. Tune in here for the free workshop, which is set for 9 a.m. EST Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The workshop will feature expert speakers and discussion on why and how to encourage the business community to be involved in obesity solutions, identify reasons why businesses might be interested in being involved, and demonstrate ways they can be engaged with a focus on community level multi-sector collaborations. Ramirez, director of SaludToday, Salud America!, and the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center ...
A new study from Yale University indicates that a school breakfast may help ensure a healthier weight range for kids. Latino kids who are more at risk for unhealthy weight ranges and at risk for higher chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease may benefit from this research as the study suggests that students who consumed breakfasts were more likely to have a healthy weight trajectory. Researchers reviewed over 580 middle school students from fifth grade to seventh grade, from 12 school districts in urban schools where free breakfast and lunches are served daily. Evaluating breakfast location patterns, and the link between breakfast patterns and weight of students over time, researchers looked at six patterns of eating, and the odds of being overweight or obese for ...
A study from Preventing Chronic Disease showed that after districtwide policies were implemented across Boston schools, students had less access to sugar-sweetened beverages. The data showed that after a ban of sugar-sweetened beverages in 2004, 89.6% of all schools studied met beverage nutrition standards, with elementary schools showing the most compliance at 93.6 percent. Through the study, researchers also found that when these nutrition standards were met at 85.5 percent of schools studied, only four percent of students had little to no access to competitive beverages or sugary beverages at school. Rebecca S. Mozaffarian, MS, MPH of the department of social and behavioral sciences at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health explained in a recent article that these ...
What does your school fundraiser look like? This question is a great way to ignite questions about healthier food fundraising for schools, as many schools across the nation are still allowing soda, and high-sugar foods to be used in school fundraising efforts, causing students to still be exposed to unhealthy foods. Healthy Eating Research (HER) and Bridging the Gap (BTG) have recently provided new data on food-related fundraising in schools. The new research brief reviews national research showing how using Smart Snacks Standards in food-related fundraising may help improve students weight outcomes and health. The research review also shows how more guidance is needed regarding fundraiser policies and practices nationwide. Suggested alternatives to unhealthy food-related ...
Editor’s Note: This is the story of a graduate of the 2015 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Apply now. Angie Poggi-Burke
Hyattsville, Maryland Fueled by the efforts of her mother who worked hard to provide for her kids, Angie, this native Puerto Rican graduated high school early and struck out on her own, moving to Washington, D.C., after college and then working on federal health disparities projects. Her proactive nature has stoked her interest in non-communicable diseases, psychosocial issues, and even US Census medical expenditure data. Angie obtained a BS in Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez and an MPH in Biostatistics from the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus. "[Éxito!] is a great program! ...
The U. S. Dept. of Agriculture announced on March 7th, 2016, that they will continue to support the ongoing success of child nutrition programs like the School Breakfast Program. Agriculture Undersecretary Kevin Concannon said in a recent article, that the USDA will award $6.8 million in competitive Team Nutrition Training Grants to help provide support to schools and child care sites for successful implementation of healthy meals. According to the USDA, participation in school breakfast programs has increased by almost 27 percent; over 14 million students are now eating school breakfast each day. Nutritious meals are important to many Latino kids across the nation that eat more than half of their daily calories at school.
The Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System (PedNSS), a ...
