Connecticut News Station WFSB reports that lawmakers in Connecticut have signed off on a bill, now on Gov. Dannel Malloy's desk awaiting his signature, that will ban chocolate milk from being served as part of the school lunch program. The state lawmakers are stating that if they do not make this move, CT could lose federal funding under the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids (HHFK) Act. HFFK sets restrictions for nutrition of school meals within the national school lunch program. Although this would improve the nutrition for students, taking away foods with higher sugar and sodium, many CT residents do not feel this will be a positive change. They argue that if it were not for the chocolate milk, they do not feel the students will drink any milk at all. To read more about how ...
What's a simple way to encourage physical activity and make the outdoor environment more pleasant during warmer weather? Street trees, said Chuck Marohn, President of Strong Towns USA, in a recent SID.tv episode. Marohn and John Simmerman of Active Towns, both speakers at the 2nd annual public health and the built environment conference, took to the streets of San Antonio and concluded that some of the country's hottest spots, like San Antonio, could benefit greatly from the shade offered by street trees. See what they had to say in the video below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oU2YptCyM1c For more ideas like this, check out the Strong Towns website here. ...
Maryland has one of the most diverse Latino populations in the country, many of which are children. Tens of thousands of Maryland children who attend licensed child care centers will enjoy healthier drink choices and activities starting next year, thanks to a bill passed by the Maryland General Assembly and signed by Governor Martin O’Malley in May 2014. The “Child Care Centers – Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Act” requires centers to provide healthier drinks to children in their care, better support mothers who are breastfeeding, and reduce non-educational screen time. Many of these standards are based on the successful “Healthy Child Care” program in Howard County. In addition to Sugar Free Kids Maryland, the legislation had the support of both the Maryland ...
Right now in Los Angeles, CA, it's illegal to sell goods, food or otherwise, on sidewalks and parkways in L.A., but street vendors still do it anyways. The rarely enforced law is an ineffective and unsafe system that ignores the opportunity to foster a vibrant street culture, argues an editorial in the L.A. Times. Two Los Angeles councilmen and a handful of citizens are hoping to make street vending legal, opening up opportunity for new jobs and a new way to access healthy foods. Many of the goods sold are fruits and vegetables. City Councilmen Jose Huizar and Curren Price introduced a motion calling for a study of how L.A. can legalize vending on sidewalks, and a research began that ended in a report on street vending in L.A. and possible solutions. On May 13, 2014, ...
May is Exercise is Medicine Month. Exercise is Medicine (EIM), is a global initiative to make physical activity and exercise a standard part of traditional medicine. Because a growing body of scientific evidence points to exercise as a key way to prevent and treat over 40 chronic diseases, members of the Exercise is Medicine network want to encourage physicians and health care practitioners to get involved with getting their patients to exercise. EIM's main goals are to: Create a broad awareness that exercise is, indeed, medicine.
Makes “level of physical activity” a standard vital sign question at each patient visit.
Helps physicians and other health care providers become consistently effective in counseling and referring patients as to their physical activity ...
The Avondale Meadows area in Indianapolis, Indiana, where almost 10% of folks who live there are Latino, is considered a USDA food desert, a low-income area with no full-service grocery store nearby. Will King, who's had a barber shop in the area for several years, says a lot of people go to the convenience store, dollar store or gas station for groceries and pay a lot more than they should. The United Northeast Community Development Corp. is working hard to recruit a large grocery store to the area to give relief to families who want affordable, healthy food. "It may take a tax abatement or creating a special TIF within our area, but the idea is that if we're able to work with them, they'll begin a community grocery store and not just a run of the-mill grocery store within ...
Given that Latinos struggle with higher obesity rates than the general population, the Obesity Action Coalition has released Spanish-language materials to educate Latinos on the impact of weight on health. The coalition also is encouraging people to bring up weight and health with their doctor. To help people start that conversation, the coalition offers the free Your Weight Matters toolkit in English and now Spanish. “To date, thousands of individuals have taken the Your Weight Matters campaign challenge,” said Ted Kyle, chairman of the OAC National Board of Directors, in a statement. “The campaign toolkit is an excellent resource to help you prepare to talk to your doctor about your weight. From sample questions to more information on obesity treatments, the toolkit has ...
Some doctors' offices and health clinics across the country have tried a new approach to get at-risk kids, many of which are Latino, to eat healthier foods: providing them with "prescriptions" with which they can buy fruits and vegetables at the grocery store. Two HealthPartners clinics in Minnesota are piloting a new program to see if fresh produce prescriptions would indeed encourage healthier eating in overweight and obese young patients. Participating doctors will issue the prescriptions to at-risk children ages 5 to 12 and encourage them to try some new foods. Area supermarkets accept the prescriptions and track the varieties of produce purchased. The prescriptions are actually just vouchers funded by HealthPartners, rather than formal scripts, but the idea is to ...
CA4Health works in rural and small California counties to reduce chronic disease and illness by helping bring about changes in the community that make it easier for people to make healthier choices in their daily lives. Many of these communities have a high Latino population. In Humboldt County, the local health department partnered with students and staff at Eureka High School to implement Hydration Nation, an effort that increased the access and appeal of fresh drinking water as a healthy alternative to the sugary beverages that are helping fuel the nation’s obesity epidemic. At Eureka High School, there were 11 older-style water fountains available to the 1,200 students and 80 staff members, none of which allowed easy filling of the reusable water bottles which were gaining ...
