The UConn Rudd Center just released a study today in the Journal of Obesity, looking at how healthier snacks that are "smart-snack" approved, can change the attitude about the food brand and confuse parents and children when shopping for healthier snack options. The study examines how parents and children rated look-alike snacks in taste, healthfulness, and purchase intent. Smart Snacks were considered healthier, but less tasty, however, many parents and kids believed they had seen similar products for sale in stores. This can be a challenge for parents looking for the healthier options in stores, believing that the "copycat" or "look-alike" versions of junk food are in fact, approved by Smart Snack regulations set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2013. Schools are ...
Need to figure out what to do in your school to have safe and clean water access and encourage everyone to drink more water? Watch the video webinar to learn more about how the Wisconsin (58% overweight or obese) created the Wisconsin Oral Health Coalition that has helped with initiatives to increase water consumption, reduce tooth decay and ensure students have access to safe and appealing water resources in schools. Through watching the webinar viewers will: Have a basic understanding of the need to decrease consumption of sugary drinks to increase oral health and reduce tooth decay or cavities
Know about recent research of how low-cost water initiatives bring benefits in the help to fight childhood obesity & tooth decay
Have tools and a guideline to help advocate ...
Guillermina Rice, like many Latina moms, cares about her 13-year-old son, Aero's health. After helping watch over kids during recess, Rice realized that some kids were being discriminated by other kids because of their weight, she decided to do something. Rice, coming from a family with a history of Diabetes, knows the importance of healthy eating and drinking water. She volunteered with the Central Elementary Schools staff to draft a food and beverage policy for birthday celebrations at school, encouraging parents to bring healthy options, like fruit and ditch the soda, candy, and cakes that are usually served at school celebrations. But she didn't stop there. After working with California Project LEAN, Rice learned about the large amounts of sugar that are in leading soda ...
The new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines for Smart Snack in Schools is working to help students have healthier snacks in schools, encouraging schools to stop selling foods high in unnecessary sugars, salts and fats like candy bars, sodas, and fried foods. In fact, new recommendations from the American Heart Association reveal that children and teens should consume less than 6 teaspoons of sugar a day. Are Smart Snacks in your school? Each snack offered must meet guidelines set by the USDA, including but not limited to sugar, salt, fat and calorie limits. Beverages are limited in schools as well, no soda is allowed to be sold and only 100% fruit or vegetable juice is allowed, although some juices still contain high amounts of natural sugars. Find out more ...
Fresh fruits and plenty of vegetable options will now be offered in Duncan Public Schools in Stephens County, Oklahoma (7.3% Latino) starting this school year, according to a local article. The school is planning to continue following federal requirements on the menus but also plans to join a co-op of other school districts that will help the school save money and have greater purchasing power for healthier choices. Children eat almost half of their daily calories at school, so it is important to offer healthier options like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
The school will allow children to not only have a fresh salad bar daily but also offer students two to three choices of vegetables and fresh fruits.
Researchers from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention have ...
Many schoolyards are locked up after classes end. That means many kids, especially in Latino neighborhoods, miss out on a great chance for the physical, emotional, and social benefits of physical activity and play. Want your district to consider an Open Use Policy so local residents can play and be physically active on school fields, playgrounds, and similar facilities after class? Download a free toolkit from Salud America! to start the conversation! Our 2-page toolkit, 4 Easy Steps to Push for Open Use at Your School, outlines how to ask your local school leaders to consider creating an Open Use Policy. This type of policy allows a school to formally grant public access to its recreational facilities, such as fields, outdoor courts, gyms, and pools, and set up roles and ...
Would the millions of children suffering from hunger and food insecurity in the United States be healthier, and have homes full of fresh produce if we started re-designing old abandoned buildings to new-tech farms? AeroFarms, co-founded by Marc Oshima and David Rosenberg, vertical farm entrepreneurs, hope to build a way to bring more farm fresh produce to urban citizens, no matter what the weather. Planning to produce over 2 million pounds of fresh vegetables per year in an old New Jersey steel mill, they also see their business as a way to help the areas of Newark that are underprivileged. Rosenberg explained to the Chicago Tribune, that there are many areas of Newark (33.8% Latino) that do not have economic development or access to supermarkets, that's why they chose to put ...
Soda, sweet tea, energy drinks, sports drinks, all have something in common in Berkely, they are sugar-filled and taxed. The city's 1-cent-per-ounce excise tax, which began collecting taxes in March 2015, has now been shown to benefit public health efforts that helped support the tax. A new study, released Tuesday, 2016 in the American Journal of Public Health, reveals how over 2,679 people in low-income neighborhoods across San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley, CA are increasing water consumption and decreasing soda consumption. Not only are people drinking more water, but millions of funds from the excise tax will now help schools with gardens and work to build more community nutrition and health efforts. Whether it's the soda tax or the awareness of the dangers of sugary drinks ...
Access to safe parks plays a huge role in overall health and wellness by promoting promoting physical activity and improving mental health. Parks even have the potential to reduce health care costs. Unfortunately, there are inequities in Latino kids' access to parks and safe places to play; therefore, they are at increased risk for mental and physical health problems, according to a Salud America! research review. Learn more about why equitable access to safe places to walk and play are so important here. The National Park Service celebrates 100 years of stewardship the week of August 22, 2016. To celebrate this milestone in American history, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health blog's editorial team asked six leaders to their reasons why parks matter for ...
