Many restaurants offer the same sugary beverages on kids meals with unhealthy options like high-sugar sodas, lemonades and juices. Now Maryland lawmakers are considering a bill to help ban sodas and other sugary drinks from kids menu's in all restaurants. Wanting to help parents and kids make the healthy choice the easy choice, the bill would change kids menus to offer healthier choices like water, low-fat milk or 100 percent juices at regular price. "The choice that comes with 80 percent of restaurant kids' meals is a soda or a fruit punch, and in those cases families are always welcomed to ask for a healthy drink, but it sometimes costs $2 or $3 more to get a milk," Robi Rawl, the Sugar Free Kids Maryland Executive Director said in a recent article. According to the Center ...
Sugar has been a hot topic in the news. Recent research shows the negative health impacts such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. But does sugar impact kids' brains? A new study shows that not only does consumption of sweets and sugar filled products hurt the body, and cause oral health decay, but also consuming sugar can cause changes in the part of the brain that control emotional and cognitive function. The study was published in the Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, where researchers found that sugar water diets given to rats had the same effect on the brain as if rats were exposed to early life issues or abuse. Over consumption of sugary sweetened beverages is a concern especially for young children the researchers explained, as this can cause ...
A move in the right direction for healthier kids menus, the fast food chain Jack-in-the-Box, is taking soda and sugary beverages like Hi-C punch and lemonade off of their kids' menu. The new kids' menus offering healthier beverage options will take place in all 2,200 of the chain's locations nationwide. Groups like Moms Rising and the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) have worked with parents across social media and stakeholder groups to help encourage these changes toward healthier beverage options and less promotion of sugary beverages in restaurant chains across the country. Jack-in-the-Box now joins Dairy Queen, Burger King, and others in removing sugary drinks. More is needed to be done to help kids see healthier options as the easier and more appealing ...
Across America, public health leaders in different states across the nation are pushing for various ways to address a rising childhood obesity epidemic. One big issue is sugary drinks. Sugary beverage consumption on a daily basis has been proven in research to be linked to higher risks of health related diseases. Follow #SaludTues to tweet with us on Feb. 2, 2016, as we unveil the results of a new study focusing on kids and sugary drinks. Participants will discuss problems, solutions, and new studies on sugary beverages and kids. We will share research packages that include helpful infographics. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Sugary Beverages & Kids”
DATE: Tuesday, February 2nd, 2016
TIME: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT)
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag ...
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 ...
According to a recent poll directed by The California Center for Public Health Advocacy, 78 percent of California voters are in support for putting warning labels on sugary beverages. The poll was conducted through telephone where voters were asked if they would support warning labels that explain that daily consumption of sugary drinks is linked to health risks like diabetes, obesity, and tooth decay. Over fifty percent were "strongly" in favor of the warning labels, with 85 percent of Latino voters supporting the labels. Why? Many consumers (28%) wanted to have the "right to know the truth" about products they purchase and stated that labels may help parents make healthier choices and help reduce sugar consumption for their children. Studies have shown that having health ...
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! ...
A controversy is growing over sugary drinks and their impact on health in San Antonio, Texas. Sugary drinks recently surged into the national spotlight with emerging research on the link between too much dietary sugar and health issues like diabetes and obesity, and the growth of sugary drink pricing initiatives by cities to cut consumption and increase revenue for health promotion programs. These issues have prompted push-back by the beverage industry. That push-back reached San Antonio, where beverage industry reps and health leaders sparred over local health, fueled by research by Salud America!, the childhood obesity prevention network. Obesity and diabetes are grave local and national health concerns with no single cause, and no single cure. “But you simply cannot ...
