Many kids have access to unhealthy snacks in schools. But when schools take action and set stricter nutrition standards, students consume 158 fewer calories and less fat/sugar, and more water, according to our new infographic on food at school and kids. The infographic is part of Salud America!’s Healthier Schools and Kids research review, which tackles the latest issues on the school health environment and offers recommendations. Share this infographic today! Salud America! is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded national childhood obesity prevention and communication ...
A new study suggests offering water to students may help reduce childhood obesity, CBS News reports. In the U.S., children struggle with overweight or obesity, but researchers at NYU Langone found “that thousands of New York City School children lost weight and lowered their body mass index after self-serve water dispensers were placed in schools.” “We looked at over a million kids in just over 1,200 schools in grades K-8,” Brian Elbel, study co-author and associate professor at the NYU Langone Medical Center, told CBS. “They ended up being about four or five pounds lighter after the introduction of this intervention as compared to a kid in a school that didn’t get a water jet.” According to the authors of the study when students have access to water jets sales of ...
Schools are where kids consume half of their daily calories. But many kids are widely exposed to unhealthy foods at school, and are less likely to engage in physical activity in school, according to a new research review from Salud America!, a national network for childhood obesity prevention and communication funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Salud America!’s Healthier Schools and Kids research review shows that Latino-majority schools tend to: have weaker policies on school snacks and drinks than other schools; may be less likely to implement nutritional guidelines; and offer few programs or access to facilities for physical activity. Solutions are emerging to create healthier schools: School policies that reduce access to unhealthy snacks and drinks are likely ...
All kids, including Latinos, need a healthy school environment. How can we healthy schools become then norm? Some students are more exposed to unhealthy food in and out of school. Stronger nutrition standards for snack foods and drinks will help all students access to healthier snacks at school, which can positively influence body mass index (BMI) trends for all populations. In addition, some students also engage in less physical activity in school, and before and after school. Implementing relevant programs that reduce challenges can increase activity opportunities for Latino and all kids. See the Full Research Review with references (PDF)
Read the Issue Brief in English (PDF)
Read the Issue Brief in Spanish (PDF)
Contents
Introduction & Methods. This Salud America! ...
ALDI has pledged to become the first United States supermarket chain to remove junk food from all checkout areas. On January 12, 2016, the discount retail grocer announced that all checkout lanes will offer healthier items reduced in calories, fat, sugars and sodium. The checkout lanes across ALDI's 1,500 locations are to be stocked by the end of 2016 with items like single serve nuts, trail mixes, dried fruits and various low sugar granola bars. The first stores that will see the promised changes include St. Louis, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Chicago and Minneapolis. The Center for Science in the Public Interest has reported that temptations of junk food, especially placed at kid's eye level are hard to resist for shoppers and children, who's willpower is fatigued after hours ...
Penny Parham is helping students in Miami-Dade County make healthier food choices more easily thanks to highlighted, veggie-promoting "Lean & Green" school lunch food menus. By providing more vegetarian options, officials with the Miami-Dade County Public Schools hope to increase students’ consumption of fruits and vegetables and make healthy food the easy choice. How did they make it happen?
Lean & Green
Penny Parham, the administrative director at Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Florida, realized the school district’s initiative of “Meatless Mondays” were popular for students. However, these vegetarian meal options were only available to students on Mondays. The Miami-Dade school district is the fourth largest in the nation, and having healthy eating ...
Traveling doesn't always allow time for healthy choices, especially when airports are filled with unhealthy options at every corner. But now more vegetable based options are coming to an airport restaurant near you. Many Airports are encouraging travelers to follow the 2015 Dietary Guidelines and offering up more fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes in various ways. According to a recent article by foodtank, more than 70 percent of airport restaurants nationwide offer at least one plant-based entree, a 25 percent jump from 2001. Menus offered up include vegetable based plates with influences like Mediterranean vegetable plates and rice bowls. Chicago O'Hare is offering Bibb lettuce in Concourse G, and local vegetable shops are popping up in airport terminals in ...
Updated federal dietary guidelines suggest Americans should consume less sugar, fat and salt and more vegetables and whole grains, The Wall Street Journal reports. The guidelines, which are updated every five years recommend a “healthy eating pattern” with conscious decisions about what we drink and eat. “By focusing on small shifts in what we eat and drink, eating healthy becomes more manageable,” Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia M. Burwell said. The guidelines suggest Americans should consume: A variety of vegetables, including dark green, red and orange, legumes (beans and peas), starchy and other vegetables
Fruits, especially whole fruits
Grains, at least half of which are whole grains
Fat-free or low-fat dairy, including milk, yogurt, ...
Chef Ann Cooper founder of the Chef Ann Foundation (CAF) has created an online resource called The Lunch Box, to help support schools who want to change their school food situation. In a recent interview Emily Miller, from CAF told Food Tank that they want to help create healthier food for kids in today's world, where kids can learn the importance of nourishing their bodies and where their food comes from. Miller explains that the best way to teach kids about healthier foods is through school, where kids are already in a learning environment. The Lunch Box resource is an in-depth school food resource, where school food professionals can use free tools to help move from processed foods to scratch-made plates that are sustainable. Including over 200 recipes that are kid-tested, ...
