How did smallish Berkeley, Calif., become the nation’s first city to pass a sugary drink tax in 2014, after many other cities had failed? People power! Local health advocates like Xavier Morales had long supported a tax on sugary drinks, believing the higher price would discourage consumption. Research studies indicate that such a decrease in consumption could potentially reduce obesity and diabetes rates. Because some children are heavily targeted by sugary drink and junk food advertisements, this issue was especially important to Berkeley’s 11% Latino community. In the end, it took passionate advocates, a well-organized campaign for a sugary drink tax, and national attention to eventually bring sweet victory for public health advocates in Berkeley.
Why Sugary Drinks Are ...
Which federal policies are most effective for reducing childhood obesity? According to a recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, two of the top policies are: 1. a penny-per-ounce ($0.01/ounce) tax on sugar sweetened beverages (soda tax); and 2. 60 minutes of daily after school physical activity for children. Through a microsimulation analysis, researchers were able to project the long-term impact of three national policies, including the two named above, in addition to a policy that would ban fast food commercials on TV. While all three policies have the potential to reduce childhood obesity, the penny-per-ounce policy was deemed to have the highest impact. Not only would a soda tax reduce obesity by an estimated 2.4 percentage points ...
A hospital is a place for healing and promoting health for new moms. However, many hospitals across the country still offer a wide range of sugary drinks in vending machines, gift shops, and cafeterias. One hospital in Boston used a beverage policy to not only help patients make healthy drink choices, but also hospital administration, staff, patients’ families, and the local community.
The Obesity Crisis
Dorchester is a community in Boston, Mass., where almost 20% of residents are Latino. Many of Dorchester’s low-income patients get their medical care at Carney Hospital, a member of Steward Health Care, the largest fully integrated community care organization in New England, and a teaching hospital for nearby Tufts University School of Medicine, said Bill Howland, the ...
Summer is here. Do you know what your child is drinking at summer camp? The American Camp Association (ACA), the country's leading camp resource and accreditation group, requires camps to take many steps to ensure the safety and well-being of young people. They also offer suggestions on how camps can help kids be active and eat healthy foods. But ACA does NOT require camps to have a healthy beverage policy to gain accreditation. That means, for the more than 2,400 ACA-accredited camps nationwide, none are required to refrain from serving campers sugary sodas, juices, or flavored milk. Research shows many kids already consume more sugary drinks on average (see video), so they have more to lose when camps recruit families and then provide unhealthy sugary drinks during this ...
During the school day, lunch time is a chance for busy students to take a break, relax with friends, and refuel. Refueling with healthy foods and drinks is vital. At two high schools in the Chicago suburbs, a concerned school board member saw a disconnect between the emphasis on healthy eating at lunch and the large sugary drink selection in cafeterias. The concern turned into a semester-long discussion between students, food services managers, and administrators that resulted in a new beverage policy for the school district that reduced the number of unhealthy drinks and marketed healthy ones in creative ways.
The Issue of Sugary Drinks
Awareness/Learn: The Latino student population is small—but rapidly growing—at Glenbrook High School District 225, which is commonly known as ...
Because some kids tend to drink more sugary drinks than others, healthy beverage strategies have the potential to impact health in big ways. In Washington, community partners are teaming-up with schools and lawmakers to come up with ways to encourage kids to quench their thirst with water, not sugar.
The Issue of Sugary Drinks
Awareness/Learn: Childhood obesity is a problem in the state of Washington, which is 11% Latino. In 2012, 25% of Washington children ages 2-4 who received benefits from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) were overweight or obese, according to the state’s Department of Health. About 23% the state’s 10th graders were overweight or obese. Sugary drinks, like soda, juice, and sweetened milk, are a major ...
Growing up in Spain, Dr. Marta Katalenas ate home-cooked meals made with fresh ingredients. When she moved to the United States in 1984 to learn English and become a pediatrician, she saw a different way of life that included way more treats, especially sugary juices and drinks. As she began her practice, she said she saw a growing association between kids drinking too much sugar and being overweight. Dr. Katalenas decided that if she was going to help parents set their kids on a path of health, she needed to get the whole community involved in reducing sugary drink consumption—so she made reducing sugary drinks part of her new monthly health challenge for families.
The Issue of Sugary Drinks and Obesity Awareness: Spain native Dr. Marta Katalenas, who moved to the U.S. ...
Cutler-Orosi is the largest unincorporated community in one of the lowest-income counties in California. Located in the San Joaquin Valley, more than half of the men and women who live here are farm workers. Poverty limits food and beverage choices to what’s cheap, easy, and not always healthy. One school district food services director, Brenda Handy, went above and beyond to ensure that, while kids were at school, they were not only eating well, but drinking well, too.
Tackling the 'Soda Issue'
Ever since Brenda Handy started as food services director for the 95% Latino Cutler-Orosi Joint Unified School District in California’s San Joaquin Valley more than four years ago, she saw students struggle to maintain healthy weights. She noticed what she called a “soda ...
Sugary drinks are a large component of added calories in the American diet. Many kids have increased their consumption of sugary drinks—such as soft drinks, sports drinks, fruit-flavored drinks, and flavored milk—between 1991 and 2008, research shows. In Contra Costa, Calif., where 24% of the population is Latino, one of every three kids from low-income families are overweight or obese. A county organization worked with an advertising agency to develop a bilingual social marketing campaign, called Sugar Bites, to urge parents to choose water for their kids instead of sugary drinks.
The Issue of Sugary Drinks and Obesity
Awareness: First 5 California is a state organization funded by Proposition 10, a statewide ballot initiative passed in 1998, to conduct health and ...
