Healthier foods are not always affordable or convenient, but the health risks of eating junk foods like chips, energy drinks and candy put many families at risk for diseases like heart disease and diabetes. To reverse the rising diabetic rates in Mexico, Mexico City put a 8 percent tax on high- calorie snacks to help reduce consumption and purchases of high sodium, high sugar snacks that have more than 275 calories per 100 grams of product. The tax has been successful in low-income and medium-income homes where a recent article from American Heart Association (AHA) explains that low-income families bought 10.2 percent less junk food, while medium-income households bought 5.8 percent less. Researchers from Mexico's National Institute of Public Health and the University of North ...
New reports on healthy foods in school meals show that there still remains issues for underserved children of color. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that many children consume most of their daily calories- a third to a half- at school, making school one of the most important food environments that impact a child's future health. A recent report from the CDC looking at schools across the U.S. from 2006-07 to 2013-14, shows that more schools in the West have the availability of salad bars in their schools than all other regions and most schools serving socio-economically disadvantaged students were less likely to have salad bars. Also revealed in the report, were that many majority-Latino schools were less likely to offer fresh fruit in school meals. Latino ...
New urban farming policies in San Antonio have helped launch small businesses and urban farms across the city. Including, a new farmers market that has grown into San Antonio's Southside, where many Latino families live in poverty and lack access to affordable, healthy foods, like fruits and vegetables. According to the State of Texas Children report, 26% of children in Bexar County lack consistent access to adequate food, and Latino kids face a disparity in Texas, where rates of food insecurity exceed 30 percent. The foods offered at Urban Farm Stand are at a lower cost than most local grocery stores, explains a recent article, also noting that sixty percent of customers are returning to stock up on fresh local tomatoes, or sign up for the 25$ produce box that can be delivered to a ...
A recent article reports that Santiago, Chile is working to combat obesity by providing consumers with warning labels on unhealthy foods. Chile deals with high obesity and diabetes rates. In 2014 an article reported Chile to be the fattest nation in the world, with 37% of boys overweight or obese and girls at 32%. The legislation passed back in 2012, will now be implemented with restrictions on advertising unhealthy foods to kids and also will indicate caloric content with black octagons and warnings showing high fat, sugar, sodium or caloric content. Latino kids in the U.S. also deal with higher diet-related diseases like diabetes and obesity. Studies show that incorporating guidelines in schools that restrict access to unhealthy foods and beverages positively impact ...
According to a recent article from Prevent Obesity, San Francisco city has taken the healthier food movement to a new level by adopting a new ordinance that ensures healthier foods are found in city property vending machines and during city meetings and events. The new ordinance requires that all prepackaged food sold in vending machines meet calorie labeling requirements and nutritional standards. Foods sold in vending machines on city property per serving must be no more than 200 calories, less than one gram of saturated fat, no more than 35% of calories from fat and have no trans fat or partially hydrogenated oil. Sodium and sugar guidelines are also detailed as well as opting out of all candy except for sugar-free mints and gum. Beverages must also follow nutritional standards ...
According to a recent news article, the U.S. District Judge Edward Chen is now backtracking on his agreement for sugary beverage warning labels. Recently, Chen denied American Beverage Association (ABA) any more time in holding off in implementing the new warning label law, to take place on all ads by July 25, 2016. Now, Chen is placing the appeal on hold, considering not the ABA's free speech argument, but more so the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Chen granted an injunction pending appeal allowing the Ninth Circuit to weigh in on the issue as this was the first warning label on food products. Chen told the WSJ, that the time proposed on final say of the law's implementation date may be months away. To ...
What are California Thursdays? A new wave of fresh farm-to-school lunches is popping up in California schools- serving fresh fish tacos and kale slaw among other locally sourced foods to a dozen school districts in the San Diego County, Calif., including San Ysidro School District. California Thursdays are a new farm-to-school program focused on creating healthier school meals from local ingredients within California. Students have enjoyed the new options of fresh guacamole with fish tacos or "pollo local," a Southwestern salad with barbecue chicken, stating that they enjoy the more nutritious options and that they are tastier than the usual fare of hot dogs and hamburgers. Thirty-three of the 42 school districts took part in some type of farm-to-school activity during the ...
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has officially helped move the FDA to publish sodium-reduction targets for 150 categories of packaged and restaurant foods. The CSPI group explained in a recent article that the average American consumes almost twice as much as the recommended federal dietary guidelines of sodium daily. CSPI hopes that these new reductions of excess sodium in foods will help prevent billions in health care costs and save lives from preventable heart attacks and strokes. To learn more about this healthy change in foods, click here to read the full CSPI report. Copy & Share on Twitter: Good News! @US_FDA issues voluntary sodium reduction targets! Thanks @CSPI #BetterFoods! ...
To help increase awareness of unhealthy food and beverage marketing and inspire collective action to make positive changes in communities, schools and other places that children gather, the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity created a set of presentations as a resource for advocates to spread the word about unhealthy food and beverage marketing in their communities.
The presentations are suited for a wide-range of audiences including health department outreach events, parent gatherings, school PTO meetings or school wellness committee, faith and youth groups, and food policy councils.
Among these resources is a downloadable presentation on "Food Marketing to Youth: What's the Harm?", which explains the importance of eating healthy foods, the truth about how millions of ...
