In October of 2012, Lincoln School in Prescott became the first school in Yavapai County to implement a Walking School Bus program. According to this report from The Daily Courier, so far parents and students have given positive feedback about the program. In the article, Lincoln Principal Teresa Bruso said: "We are excited to offer this program...It's a great opportunity for students to build community and healthy lifestyles as the walk to school each day." A non-profit organization called Prescott Alternative Transportation (PAT) received a grant, which helped the program get started. A few months prior to starting the program the Arizona Department of Transportation sponsored a walking school bus, workshop taught by PedNet. The workshop helped equip PAT with the tools necessary ...
School districts in Texas are responsible for encouraging children to be physically active. In doing so, some believe that school wellness policies should not use physical activity as a form of punishment. This September 2011 recommendation developed by the Texas School Health Advisory Council (TSHAC) aims to guide local School Health Advisory Councils (SHACs) to include provisions in their school wellness policies to prohibit physical activity as punishment. Click the document, or click here to view the full ...
Since 2001, physical activity requirements for Texas schools have been in place. Still if students are not meeting requirements for daily physical activity, other programs--such as after school programs--should provide them with an opportunity to participate in moderate to vigorous physical activity. The following recommendations, created in November 2008, were provided in response to Texas SB 530, which was passed at the 80th legislation session. The bill requires that the Texas Education Agency (TEA) in consultation with the Texas School Health Advisory Council (TSHAC) provide a report to the legislation, that details options for students to participate in moderate to vigorous physical activity, outside the seven-hour instructional school day. The recommendations ...
Attorney General Bill Sorrell is looking to target fast food marketing in his next initiative to fight childhood obesity in Vermont. The state has had penny-per-ounce tax on sugar sweetened beverages already instated by Sorrell, and now they want to begin cutting advertising from directing their marketing toward children. It is in the early stages of planning, but Sorrell is determined to fight childhood obesity in all areas. They do know that this will be a challenge, because of all the laws and policies already in place protecting First Amendment Rights. However they still wish to push forward with this initiative because of their desire to fight childhood obesity in all aspects of life. Sorrell brought in a professor from Dartmouth, Dr. James Sargent, who conducted a study on the ...
Although, Utah has historically been one of the least obese states in the U.S., obesity levels have increased over the last few years. According to information from America's Health Rankings, Hispanics have a 29.4% obesity rate in Utah, compared to only 23.1% of non-Hispanic Whites Rep. Stewart Barlow (R-Fruit Heights) of Utah is working to raise awareness about obesity, by sponsoring a resolution to acknowledge that obesity is a growing problem in Utah. One of the main provisions of this resolution states that Utah will support policies that would increase access to healthy food and physical activity. The resolution recognizes the need to support policies that promote increased access to healthy food and physical activity in Utah. According to a 2005 report, Latino (10.4%) high ...
The Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) created in 2008 exists to limit food marketing of unhealthy foods to children. However, participation in CFBAI is voluntary, CFBAI does not limit advertisements viewed on general audience programming, CFBAI does not restrict the marketing of unhealthy food products, and does not limit adolescent exposure to unhealthy food and ...
Recent studies have found that more fast food and junk food commercials are being directed at older children and teens. Although restrictions exist to limit food marketing towards younger children, currently there are no restrictions on marketing food to older children, making them a vulnerable target of food marketers. ...
The Center for Digital Democracy and 16 other Youth Advocacy Groups have filed a complaint to the FTC against companies who they believe have violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998. Although, COPPA exists to protect children from being tracked online by marketers, companies such as McDonald's and Coca-Cola have been accused of violating COPPA. Now the Center for Digital Democracy is pushing the FTC to put in place more stringent regulations, which would give parents greater control over the tools used to track what their kids are viewing ...
According to the Federal Trade Commission(FTC), food marketing expenditures are declining. However, self regulation of food marketing does not appear to be doing much to limit the exposure that children have to advertisements for unhealthy foods. A 2012 report published by the FTC shows that while television ads aimed at children have decreased, other avenues such as internet ads and cell phone marketing have increased, and are being utilized as less costly and more interactive strategies to reach children. ...
