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 ...
In an effort to curb sugary drink consumption and generate revenue for health promotion activities, law makers and health advocates in California are pushing for a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. Introduced by State Assembly Member Richard Bloom and backed by the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California (LCHC), among others, the bill would place a 2-cent-per-ounce health impact excise fee on sugary drinks. The tax is expected to generate an estimated $3 billion a year. The revenue would be used to create the "Children's and Family Health Promotion Program" to prevent and treat obesity, diabetes, heart and dental disease. "Sugar sweetened beverages are causing Californians to become overweight and have led to an epidemic of diabetes," said Assembly Member Bloom. "The beverage ...
One word can describe Taco Bell’s drink lineup: Sugary. Taco Bell recently added six new sugary drinks and became the first fast-food giant to offer Manzanita Sol, an apple-flavored soda most popular in Mexico, a nod to its Latin-inspired cuisine. Manzanita Sol packs a whopping 56 grams of sugar in a 16-ounce drink, and four of the six new drinks contain more than 20 grams of sugar in the chain’s smallest available size. Tell Taco Bell to stop offering Manzanita Sol and other sugary drinks to customers! Latino kids don’t need more sugar-bombs disguised as thirst-quenchers, they already drink more sugary drinks per day than their white peers and have higher rates of obesity. Taco Bell continues to launch new unhealthy beverages, including new flavors of sugar-filled ...
More than 23,000 people across the nation recently wrote letters to urge the Kellogg Co. to stop marketing sugary foods to Latino families on their Dias Grandiosos website. The letters, which highlighted how Kellogg’s targets Latina moms with cultural- and family-oriented messages for meals that are high in sugar and salt, were collected by Salud America!, a Latino obesity research network funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and led by Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez of the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. Salud America! leaders delivered the 23,000 letters to Kellogg’s this week. We will post their response here in coming days. Why is this effort so important? Food and beverage marketing influences Latino kids’ ...
In San Francisco youth are working to raise awareness of the dangers that sugary beverage consumption hold, through the Open Truth Campaign. To raise awareness of the issue, youth have created their own poems and videos to discuss just how aggressively big soda companies are in their use of marketing tactics which target Latino and black youth. The campaign also features billboards which have been placed throughout San Francisco's metro system and will rely largely on social media use to prompt communities to act. To join the Open Truth Movement in speaking out against soda, access some of their resources below: Download Open Truth ads here.
Create your own ad, by taking a selfie & creating a "Big Soda, stop targeting me" flyer or poster.
Take action by visiting ...
One Texas legislator hopes to encourage healthy eating and physical activity among students enrolled in after school programming, through the creation of a statewide distinguished afterschool recognition program (DASH). Legislation for the program was first introduced by Texas state representative Carol Alvarado in February 2015. If created the proposed program would recognize before and after school care providers with recognition for going the extra mile to ensure that all children are provided with healthy opportunities during the out-of-school setting. After school care providers would be eligible to apply for yearly recognition if they provide: staff member training on the importance of modeling healthy eating and physical activity;
regular & ongoing nutrition ...
Although a similar bill did not pass the state legislator last year, Illinois State Senator Mattie Hunter and Rep. Robyn Gabel introduced the Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Act to provide tools and resources for Illinois families to live healthier lives. The bill is would generate more than $600 million a year for investment in communities across the state through a small tax on sugary drink distributors and is supported by the Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity. "This is an important piece of legislation for the health of Illinois communities, especially those most devastated by sky-high rates of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease," Sen. Hunter said in a press release. "African Americans have the highest heart disease mortality rates in the state and ...
Latina moms often have final say over family meals—marketers know this. Kellogg Co., the name behind brands like Fruit Loops, Pop-Tarts, and Eggo Waffles, has a new digital marketing campaign, Días Grandiosos, that targets Latina moms online and on social media like Facebook and Pinterest with recipes they tout as saludable (healthy). But many of their meals are high in sugar and salt—NOT saludable. Tell Kellogg to stop pushing Latina moms to give their kids unhealthy, sugary foods, and instead add more healthy options! Almost all the campaign’s recipes—19 of the 29 recipes on its website—qualify as desserts based on their high sugar content, according to an independent nutritionist. Like: Five recipes using Rice Krispies and marshmallows;
Cookies made with ...
Children who consume heavily sweetened energy drinks are 66% more likely to be at risk for hyperactivity and inattention symptoms, according to a new study. On the average day, the 1,649 middle-school students in the study reported consuming two sugared beverages or energy drinks, which can contain up to 40 grams of sugar—even though health experts recommend that children consume a maximum of 21 to 33 grams of sugar daily. Who was most likely to consume energy drinks? Hispanic and black boys drank more than their study counterparts. “As the total number of sugar-sweetened beverages increased, so too did risk for hyperactivity and inattention symptoms among our middle-school students. Importantly, it appears that energy drinks are driving this association,” said Jeannette ...
