What's not getting taxed, or may be taxed less in Britain? Britain has a new and different way of taxing sugary sweetened beverages using a three tier level of tax, looking more at the sugar content of a beverage and wanting to help people to switch at least to less sugary options for health reasons. Not all drinks will be taxed the same, but will be taxed per ounce as in Berkley, Cali. Drinks with more sugar, like soda will be taxed at higher prices, whereas slightly sweetened teas will be taxed less and no taxes will be put on flavored waters, according to a recent article. The new taxes are set to start in 2018, giving companies and vendors time to reform products and think about sugar content. Hungary also has a tier system, working within two levels of taxing, and ...
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 ...
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 ...
On Spanish-language TV, food and beverage advertising is out of whack. Just 1% of food ads show water, fruits, or veggies, and 70% of ads show fast-food or other restaurants, candy, gum, snacks, and sugary drinks, according to a study by the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Salud America!, and others. Those are discouraging numbers...but there’s good news! The Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) is a voluntary self-regulation program for food and drink companies to create healthier advertising to kids under age 12. Who’s in? McDonald’s, Burger King, General Mills, PepsiCo, Kraft, Kellogg’s, Hershey, Mars, Nestle, Campbell Soup and more. We’d like to thank them for getting involved when it comes to healthier advertising to ...
Praxina Guerra and her mentor Cathy Lopez are true Salud Heroes when it comes to creating an environment of school health and fun. After becoming involved with a local student ambassador program and creating a school club to encourage students to adopt healthier practices, the pair collected funds for a water bottle fountain, also called a hydration station, to be installed in the school’s cafeteria. Their team also started monthly Wellness Wednesday fitness events, available to both parents and students, as a way to increase fitness opportunities for the surrounding community.
Seeing the Issue of Obesity First-Hand
According to a 2009, Bexar County assessment of obesity by school district, 40% of children enrolled in South San Antonio Independent School District (SSAISD) were ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
