Following the lead of other large fast-food chains like McDonald's and Wendy's, Dairy Queen has agreed to remove sodas from its listing of kids’ meals on menu boards and replace them with milk and water. According to a letter addressed to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), who had urged Dairy Queen to take such action, Dairy Queen's Franchise Advisory Council voted unanimously to remove soft drinks from kids’ menu. The change will go into effect on Sept. 1, 2015 when new menu board panels arrive at franchise locations. “Dairy Queen deserves credit for being responsive to the concerns of parents, who increasingly want to be able to order off the kids’ menu without having to say ‘no’ to soda,” said CSPI nutrition policy director Margo G. Wootan in ...
The zoo isn’t exactly a place of health (for humans), with typical fare like popcorn, ice cream, cotton candy, and sugary drinks. However, in El Paso, Texas, kids and visitors of all ages are learning fun facts about how they can be healthy by copying habits, like eating fruits and vegetables, from animals. In 2012, the El Paso Zoo installed new signs and healthy menu items to promote good health for its record-breaking 354,130 visitors, and they continue to work with city public health officials to make a healthy lifestyle second nature to the community.
How Healthy Is the Food at Your Zoo?
Awareness: In 2010, El Paso, Texas, a vibrant a city with a rich culture at the west-most point of the state, was named the “third-fattest city” in the U.S. Sue Beatty, a health ...
What good is physical activity if you fuel up with junk food and sugary drinks? One leader in Arlington County, Va., realized that the absence of healthy drink and snack options at parks and public buildings was sending an unclear message to the community about the importance of proper nutrition for an active lifestyle. With overwhelming community support, he drove good-for-you options into vending machines in county-owned property and local schools. This created places that weave both nutrition and physical activity into the fabric of neighborhood health.
The Lack of Healthy Food in the Neighborhood
Families in Arlington County, Va., come from many backgrounds. Walter Tejada, an Arlington County Board Member and two-time County Board chair, moved to the U.S. from El Salvador ...
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 ...
When Cecil Whisenton of San Antonio, Texas, transitioned his career from the restaurant industry to the installation of healthy vending machines, he learned of the tremendous burden of obesity across the country. So, in his work with HUMAN Healthy Vending—a Los-Angeles-based company that has franchisees working to place healthy vending machines across the country—Whisenton brought the machines to local YMCAs and a San Antonio high school. He hopes to bring the healthy vending machines to more schools in the future to give kids healthier snack and drink options earlier in life. He believes schools facing the pending changes under the USDA’s Smart Snacks standards can turn to companies like Human Vending to redesign the snacking for students.
The Problem of Unhealthy School ...
About five years ago, Clara Santos opened Olivares Food Market to serve the Philadelphia neighborhood in which she lived. Offering quick meals and grab-and-go snacks, her store was popular but had few healthy snacks. With some help from a food access organization, Santos learned that offering and promoting healthy food options is not only good for the health of her customers, but for business, too.
Junk Food in the Community
Awareness: Olivares Food Market, a corner store in South Philadelphia, owned by Clara Santos, is a lot like other similar markets in Philadelphia and across the country. That is, it lacks healthy food options and has no marketing for the few it does have. Olivares sells prepared foods—like high-calorie cheesesteaks for lunch and pancakes for ...
In the small city of Lynn, Mass., many groups are stepping up to make healthy changes where they live, work, and play. Local corners stores, where many kids hang out before and after school, are well-positioned to make a positive impact on kids’ food choices—if they are marketing the right foods. A group of high-school students chose one popular corner store to help promote healthy snacks and make it easier for teens to pick apples over chips—contributing to a wave of new healthy markets sweeping over Massachusetts.
Junk Food in the Community
Awareness: The small city of Lynn, Mass., has a Latino population that grew from 18% to 32% from 2000 to 2010, according to Census data. “It’s kind of a gateway,” explained Kristina Pechulis, the Lynn coordinator for Mass in ...
Residents living in the small rural community of Earlimart, Calif., lacked outdoor spaces for the physical activity they needed to develop and maintain healthy lifestyles and weights.
The Earlimart School District’s superintendent responded to this need by trying an experiment. She had the custodial staff at one school leave the school gate open. Word got around that the school’s gate had been left open—soon the school’s field was filled with local residents.
This experiment ultimately led to a change in the school district’s rule, which allows Tulare county residents from non-affiliated groups to use the school yard at Earlimart Middle School.
The story does not end here; once residents realized the difference a place to play could make in improving the health of the ...
What are you eating for lunch? Snack food may be the quickest—and unhealthiest—choice. In Santa Cruz County, California, a youth leadership group called Jóvenes SANOS knew that their neighborhood needed to incorporate more healthy food options into daily life. That means healthy food even at bus stations.
Health in San Cruz County
Latinos comprise about 81% of the 50,000 people who live in Watsonville, Calif., which is situated in Santa Cruz County. Jóvenes SANOS, a youth leadership group seeking to increase opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity for Watsonville youth through implementing long-term change, understands that childhood obesity is a problem for all people. “[Half of people] in this community…are likely to eat fast food 1 to 3 times a ...
