Could activity labeling encourage people to do physical activity or not eat that bag of chips? What is activity labeling? Calories are usually shown on food labels, but what if the amount of time to walk or burn off those calories were also on the food? A new study asked more than 800 parents to look at a fast food menu online and pick a meal for their child, parents who saw the calories and number of minutes of exercise to burn off those calories, didn't order a lower calorie meal but said they would encourage their child to exercise. Interestingly enough, another study has shown that teens beverage choice was influenced by activity labeling signs in the store. However other studies have shown that people continue to order high-calorie foods, but some are three times more ...
A study from Dr. Kevin Gordish, presented at the Experimental Biology 2016 conference, indicates that added sugars and salts increase the risk for increased blood pressure resulting in "fructose-linked hypertension." The study analyzed groups of rats whose diets mimicked the American diets high in sugary beverages and salt. One group of rats were fed drinking water with 20% fructose and another group was fed plain water, but given high salt diets in the second week, resulting in increase blood pressure and leading to hypertension. Gordish explained that the fructose intake, similar the amounts of sugary beverages we consume, decrease the body's ability to get rid of excess salt and increase sodium retention. “The specific combination of fructose and high salt introduced in the ...
High Schools in St. Joseph, Missouri are now able to help students make the healthier choice the easier choice with the school's new water bottle stations. To help encourage students to chose water over sugary beverages, local health departments helped purchase the new water bottle filling fountains for various local schools and put up sugar shocker signs to help students know how much sugar is in various sugary beverages. The grant came through the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and then the new fountains were purchased by the City of St. Joseph Health Department to help encourage students to drink more water. Quick-fill water bottle stations that transform regular water fountains into bottle filling stations were put into various local schools including ...
According to the U.S. Military Processing Exam, 62,000 new recruits to the military were turned away in joining the military due to their weight. Juan Cardenas, a member of the Marine Corps junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) at Northridge High School, offered fellow students a presentation on healthier foods, nutrition, calories, and label reading. Sixteen year old Cardenas said in a local article, that he wasn't always the strongest and fastest kid, but was always the bigger kid, but now he is the kid that can "hold his own" and compete. Cardenas knows that eating healthy and exercising has helped him and hopes to show that to his peers. Latino kids are at higher risks for diet-related dieseases like obesity and diabetes, and according to the the local article, ...
The Springfield City Council has voted to authorize seven million dollars to help support a growing meals program for the state's second largest public school system. The money will help purchase and renovate a warehouse dedicated to help save taxpayers money and provide healthier school meals for the city's 30,000 impoverished kids, by housing all food-related operations for the district into one place. The school's department of finance chief Patrick Roach explained that the warehouse will help save the program over half a million dollars a year, and help create a culinary and nutrition center that will allow for more scratch cooking and less processed foods. The warehouse will also allow high school students learning opportunities and provide 40 additional full-time jobs to ...
Wanting to help change the scene for healthy school lunches, mom of three and now new entreprenuer, Gaby Wilday started her own way of changing school lunches. With a startup company called, No Fuss Lunch, Wilday works with schools to offer up fresh and healthier options like organic salads and whole wheat made bread. After Wilday's daughter came home from school with expired raisins, which were considered a "fruit" she was inspired to create healthier lunches that included fresh organic fruits and vegetables for her daughter and her 7 friends kids. The lunches cost more, as they are made with no white ingredients and organic fruits and vegetables, but are convenient for families who don't have time to make lunches in the morning, and allows parents and kids to go online and ...
A new campaign from the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles is working to help the communities of Santa Monica, CA (14.1 % Latino) increase consumption of water and learn why it's important to drink water instead of sugary beverages. The campaign, called "Water: The Healthiest Choice" is hoping to help parents' increase their knowledge of the health benefits of drinking water instead of sugary beverages, especially for their children's health. Research has shown that sugary beverages, when consumed daily, increase the risk of diet-related disease in kids and adults. Latino kids often consume many sugary beverages, and with each sugary drink consumed the risk of becoming an obese adult jumps to sixty percent. The campaign suggests some ways to help parents to help kids drink more ...
This is an UPDATE to the June 2015 post: Kid's Low Swimming Ability is Unacceptable in the "Land of a 10,000 Lakes" With funds from the State of Minnesota, Hennepin County, Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board (MPRB), Shakopee Mdwakotan Sioux Community, as well as from local businesses, neighborhoods, elected officials, foundations, corporations and individual donors, the Phillips Aquatics Center-the first public, indoor swimming pool in The City of Lakes, Minneapolis, Minn. (10.5% Latino)-is a reality. In the Phillips neighborhood, 54.5% of children under 18 live below the Federal Poverty Level, compared to the national average of 21.58%. These kids often have low-swim ability and lack access to school or public pools, thus miss out on many of ...
Drinking water is a vital component to staying healthy, and now a new study from JAMA Pediatrics shows how students in New York who had more restrictive beverage option at school and access to clean and cold water, also came to have healthier weights. But recent news stories have shown that not all schools water is safe. Schools need to make sure water is safe through lead tests and having safe water accessible for all students, and visitors, especially since water may help students weight, finds the new study. The study looked at more than 1 million students across New York schools after a new rule banned sodas and high sugar and calorie drinks, but replaced vending machines with new water jets. The students were given cups to use in conjunction with the water jets, and ...
