School Nutrition & Exercise
Low-Income, Hispanic Toddlers More Likely To Be Overweight, Obese Than Whites, Blacks, Study Finds
1.2.07 | Kaiser Network
Hispanic toddlers from low-income families are at the most risk of being overweight or obese, with 44% either overweight or obese, compared with 32% of white and black children from similar households, according to a study on the health of urban toddlers published last week in the online edition of the American Journal of Public Health.
Childhood Obesity and Youth Sports Both on Rise - How?
12.23.06 | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Childhood obesity has doubled in the past two decades; meanwhile, youth sports participation is higher than ever. How can that be?
Gary Students Want More and Better Foods for Lunch
12.11.06 | Chicago Public Radio
Students at a high school in Gary, Indiana conducted their own unscientific study about the school's lunch menu. The conclusion: They want better food.
Moms Meet Need for Kids Fitness Magazine
12.5.06 | Miami Herald
Maria Sanz, Miami mother of four, wanted a fun fitness magazine for her kids that would encourage them to live healthy, smart lives. When she couldn't find one, she created it.
Group Says Ads to Kids Sell Poor Health
12.4.06 | ABC News
The American Academy of Pediatrics is calling for stricter guidelines on child-targeted advertising — a move the group believes will help curtail obesity, and cigarette and alcohol use among America's youth.
McDonald's trying a new play on PlayPlace
12.4.06 | Chicago Tribune
McDonald's is getting serious about childhood obesity -- to the point where it is considering replacing play areas in thousands of its restaurants with kids' gyms where young customers can burn off their Happy Meals. ... The gyms are the latest effort by the Oak Brook-based hamburger giant to deflect accusations that it has contributed to the growing rate of childhood obesity in the United States.
Health Officials Up in Arms Over Childhood Obesity
12.1.06 | WTEN: Albany, N.Y.
With the threat of childhood obesity looming more than ever before, state health officials are acting fast to stop its spread.
Unfit for school: State legislators target phys-ed as nation becomes more obese
11.17.06 | Chicago Defender
Some Illinois politicians are tightening the belt on physical education exemptions offered to school districts statewide.
Rescuing Recess
11.9.06 | Central Florida News 13
"My son is in middle school right now,” Lecia Gray-Knighton said. "We had to choose between band and choir and P.E. Well, it was a no-brainer for me. At least he's getting P.E. every day."
For Kids, Life is Snack Time
11.9.06 | News & Observer
Our kids' sustenance seems to consist of one long chain of snacks.
School Nurses Making the Grade by Taking on Wider Range of Tasks
11.8.06 | Boston Herald
"School nurses are really the public health nurses for the school population," said Anne Sheetz, director of school health services at the state Department of Public Health. "They are really on the front lines of health care."
Not On the Menu: Stamford Schools Opt Out of Nutrition Program
11.6.06 | Stamford Advocate
The school district has opted out of a state program to boost school nutrition, citing the administrative headaches of trying to oversee items sold at bake sales and other food-related fundraisers.
Let Kids Be Kids
11.6.06 | Des Moines Register
Play is, in fact, more than just play, researchers and educators say. It's an important part of development, and kids aren't getting enough of it. Time for free play "has been markedly reduced for some children," according to an October report from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The Learning Connection: Better Health, Better Performance
Oct/Nov | PTA: Our Children Magazine
Today, less than 25 percent of children get 30 minutes of any type of physical activity every day, and nearly four in 10 high school students watch at least three hours of TV on an average school day.
Farm to School Improves Nutrition
10.30.06 | Southwest Farm Press
Oklahoma watermelon grower Bob Ramming wants to see Oklahoma school kids eating more fresh, healthful produce, and he’s part of a program that’s making it happen.
After years of cooping up kids, city schools flirt with recess
10.23.06 | Chicago Tribune
Nearly three decades after the Chicago Public Schools all but eradicated recess at most elementary campuses, there's a movement to bring it back -- an effort now championed by schools chief Arne Duncan. It's the first time since Mayor Richard Daley took over the school system in 1995 that a district leader publicly endorsed free play as a priority.
Disney to serve healthier food at parks
10.19.06 | Associated Press
The Walt Disney Co. will serve healthier meals at its domestic theme parks and reduce fat and sugar in Disney-branded foods as part of a push to improve the diets of children, the company said Monday. The guidelines will also extend to fast food restaurants that sign deals to promote Disney movies.
Fruit, veg in schools increase with new nutrition policies
10.19.06 | FoodNavigator-USA.com
The recently implemented school wellness policies have started to have an impact on the types of foods children have access to during the day, with schools already offering more fruits and vegetables, according to a report issued this week.
Glorious Food? English Schoolchildren Think Not
10.18.06 | New York Times
Five months after the celebrity chef Jamie Oliver succeeded in cajoling, threatening and shaming the British government into banning junk food from its school cafeterias, many schools are learning that you can lead a child to a healthy lunch, but you can’t make him eat.
New State Rules Further Restrict School Junk Food
10.10.06 | Chicago Tribune
Elementary- and middle-school pupils will not be able to buy snacks with high fat, sugar or calorie content before and during the school day under new state rules approved Tuesday.
Before Children Ask, "What Recess?"
10.10.06 | New York Times
A survey of 15,000 school districts conducted in 1999 by [the American Association for the Child’s Right to Play] found that 40 percent were either eliminating recess or cutting back on it or considering one or the other.
Rethinking Recess
10.10.06 | Wall Street Journal
National groups representing parents and pediatricians are stepping in to champion more playtime, as a growing body of research points to the benefits of the kind of free play that can't be found in gym class.
Producers Agree to Send Healthier Foods to Schools
10.7.06 | The New York Times
In an effort to fight the rise in childhood obesity, five of the country’s largest snack food producers said yesterday they would start providing more nutritious foods to schools, replacing sugary, fat-laden products in vending machines and cafeterias.
Progress
Is Slow in Reversing Childhood Obesity Trend
9.17.06
Government, industry, communities, schools, and families
have developed many initiatives to respond to the growing
problem of childhood obesity, but efforts remain fragmented.
Gery
J. Chico on the Realities of Serving 410,000 Meals a Day
9.12.06
When Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley tapped his former
chief of staff, Gery Chico, to serve a term heading up the
board of education in 1995, someone else might have hesitated.
No
child left out of the dodgeball game
8.24.06 | CNN
As more of America's school-age children are growing fatter,
the physical education curriculum that might help them win
the fight is gasping for air, says a recently released report.
New
breed of gym teachers wants kids fit for life
August 2006 | Dallas Morning News
As the battle rages to keep kids fit in an ever-chubbier
world, Stacy Turner and Phil Brown are heading to the front
lines.
Pennsylvania
State University
8.11.06 | Physician Law Weekly
Providing nutritional information with high school cafeteria
lunch choices not only helps students to make better food
choices, but also improves the students' satisfaction with
school lunch programs and dining room staff, according to
a Pennsylvania State University study.
Report
Says Sugary Drinks Pile on Pounds
8.9.06 | AP
Americans have sipped and slurped their way to fatness
by drinking far more soda and other sugary drinks over the
last four decades, a new scientific review concludes.
Academic
Achievement Higher Among Most Active Kids
8.3.06 | American College of Sports Medicine
Children who participate in vigorous physical activity, such
as sports, perform better in school, according to a new study
released today by the American College of Sports Medicine
(ACSM).
Aplazan
Politica de Bienstar Escolar
8.27.06 | Hoy
La Junta de Educacion de las Escuelas Publicas de Chicago
postergo ayer el voto para aprobar una nueva Politica de Bienestar
Escolar, despues de que padres de familia pidieron una fecha
y un plan para que dicho reglamento entre en vigor.
Schools
Get Healthy As Law Takes Hold
7.13.06 | AP
They're promising to keep closer tabs on student lunch
trays, pull sugary treats from vending machines and classroom
celebrations and encourage more pulse-raising activities during
the school day.
Study
Shows Increased Student Demand for Healthy School Meals
7.13.06 | Nation's Restaurant News
A recently released study by the NPD Group, a New York
based global market research firm, finds secondary students
are increasingly consuming more healthful food options, such
as fruit, salads, and milk and passing by traditional fast
food staples.
Soda
Contracts: Who Really Benefits?
7.1.06 | Rethinking Schools
As school districts around the country work to improve
nutrition, soda and candy are not the only topics of debate.
The controversy is also about money. School leaders, in the
unenviable position of having to plug funding gaps, have resorted
to the sale of unhealthy foods to keep important school activities
afloat.
State
scores D-minus on school foods report card
6.21.06 | Chicago Sun-Times
Illinois was handed a report card Friday, but it wasn't
one to brag about. The state scored a D-minus on a "school
foods report card" issued Tuesday by the Center for Science
in the Public Interest.
Yoga,
Hip-Hop ... This is P.E.?
6.15.06 | Christian Science Monitor
In middle school, Jacob Haren thought physical education
was short on variety and big on boredom. Now, Jacob is a high
school freshman at a campus that's embraced "new P.E."
Nutrition,
Physical Activity Boost School Performance; Four-Year Program
Improves Test Scores, Discipline, Attendance
6.1.06 | Comtex U.S. Newswire
An innovative program to increase physical activity and
improve nutrition at an elementary school has shown dramatic
results over four years, according to research presented at
the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports
Medicine (ACSM) at Denver.
Retooling
School Lunch
June 2006 | Time Magazine
It's lunch hour on a luminous spring day at Berkeley High
School's open campus--the perfect time to stroll to Extreme
Pizza on nearby Shattuck Avenue, grab a Coke, order some pizza
heaped with sausage and sit in the California sun. But in
Berkeley High's lunchroom, lines of students are waiting patiently
for--get this--cafeteria food.
School
Puts Healthy Eating Lesson on the Menu
5.17.06 | Chicago Tribune
As parents and educators nationwide grapple with how to
combat childhood obesity and improve children's nutrition,
a private West Hollywood elementary school has been experimenting
with an unusual, upscale solution
The
Big, Fat American Kids Crisis . . . And 10 Things We Should
Do About It
5.10.06
An opinion piece on how to address the current obesity
crisis from the New York Times.
Overweight
kids: Schools take action
5.2.06 | Christian Science Monitor
The salad bar at Chicago's Nettelhorst Elementary School
is one way the school is promoting healthier choices for students.
Pay
to Play
4.18.06 | WBEZ: Chicago Pubic Radio
Recess is a given at most well-funded schools, but Chicago
Public School policy has curtailed recess in favor of more
time spent on core subjects. This report examines the ramifications
of the policy on students.
Schools Saying Goodbye to Junk Foods
4.10.06
Beginning with the 2006-07 school year, all Decatur schools will have the first part of a new wellness policy in place, as required by the federal government.
Experimental Classroom Gets Kids on Feet
3.29.06 | AP
Goal is to see if getting children to move, even a little, can help combat childhood obesity.
Soda Main Cause of Obesity?
3.5.06 | AP
Soda may be the leading cause of obesity, and some nutritionists want warnings and a possible "fat tax" on the drinks.
Eating
for Credit
2.20.06 | The New York Times
Op-ed by Alice Waters on how schools should teach kids about food, not simply
serve it up.
I'm Hatin' It
2.22.06 | Grist Magazine
Government policies help make junkier foods cheaper than healthy ones, likely contributing to our obesity rates.
"Big Mother" (or Father) Is Watching
2.20.06 | AP
Computer system lets parents monitor food choices of kids at school.
Early Lunch Breeds Bad Habits
2.16.06 | AP
Earlier lunch times at school may do our kids more harm than good in terms of healthy eating.
Committee Fights Against Junk Food
2.3.06 | AP
Nutritionist leads charge in Idaho to get junk food out of schools, though she faces opposition from some parents and officials.
Cutting Out Sugary Drinks
2.2.06 | The New York Times
Citing obesity rates, Hartford, Conn., plans to ban school sales of drinks high in sugar.
Whole Milk Nixed From N.Y. Schools
2.2.06 | The New York Times
Whole milk cut from menus to help reduce obesity rates.
Marketing
to Kids Hinders Healthy Eating
1.12.06 | The New York Times
Popular characters hawking sugary
snacks and other forms of marketing to kids makes efforts
to promote healthy eating difficult..
Study
Links School Bake Sales with Obesity
Dec. 5, 2005
Schools that run bake sales and let teachers reward students
with candy risk having more overweight pupils, a study in
Minneapolis suggests.
School
Role in Promoting Obesity?
Dec. 5, 2005
Academic Health Center, University of Minnesota
Schools may contribute to childhood obesity, according
to a new study led by University of Minnesota's School of
Nursing.
Governor
Pushes Junk Food Ban
Nov. 28, 2005
Maura Kelly Lannan, Associated Press
Gov. Rod Blagojevich asks Illinois State Board of Education
to bar soda and other unhealthy foods at elementary and middle
schools.
Wellness
Mandate Needs Funding, Support
Nov. 14, 2005
Donna Boss, National Restaurant Assoc.
National Restaurant Association article praises congressional
moved that after July 1, 2006, each school district participating
in the National School Lunch Program must have in place a
local wellness policy. But it cautions that without adequate
funding and local support, the mandate could fail.
Challenges Re: Kids Walking to School
Nov. 7, 2005
Research from CDC highlights barriers in walking to and from school.
Adolescents
on the Road to Diabetes
Nov. 7, 2005
Lindsey Tanner, Associated Press
Roughly 2 million U.S. children ages 12 to 19 have a
pre-diabetic condition linked to obesity and inactivity that
puts them at risk for full-blown diabetes and cardiovascular
problems, government data suggest.
School
Lunch Daze
Nov. 2, 2005
Karen Springen, Newsweek
Business-government partnerships are bringing a slew
of new choices, and controversy, to school cafeterias, but
do kids benefit?
For Healthier School Lunches
Oct. 14, 2005
Letter to the editor in the Sun-Times.
Chartwells fights child obesity
Oct. 10, 2005
Food services contractor rolls out Balanced Choices, its new child wellness initiative at approximately 1,000 schools.
Parents Unaware of School Wellness Policies
Oct. 4, 2005
Most parents don't know that their schools are required by federal law to have comprehensive wellness policies in place by the beginning of the 2006 school year, and they over-estimate how much schools already do.
Schools Right and Wrong On Obesity
Sept. 18, 2005
Julie Deardorff
, Chicago Tribune
Body mass index (BMI) measurements need to go along with physical education and healthier eating options at schools.
California
Bans Soda in Schools
Sept. 15, 2005
Governor signs bills to bar sodas and increase spending
for fruits & veggies in school meals.
Pa. Schools
Mandate Body-Mass Calculations
Sept. 9, 2005
Martha Raffaele, Associated Press
As they wait for their children's first report card to
come home this year, elementary-school parents across Pennsylvania
also can expect to receive a separate report on a key indicator
of their children's health.
Fast
Food Clusters Near Schools
Aug. 23, 2005
Diane Rado, Chicago Tribune
Article explores issues of healthier food choices in
Chicago schools, looking at the progress made and also barriers
that remain.
Health Movement Has School Cafeterias in a Food Fight
Aug. 21, 2005
Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY
Opinions are varied on whether efforts to eliminate junk food in schools is going too far.
Soda Industry Takes Stock of School Presence
Aug. 18, 2005
Janet Rausa Fuller, Chicago Sun-Times
Soft drink industry makes motions toward policing selves on school grounds.
How to Fix School Lunch
Aug. 8, 2005
Newsweek
Celebrity chefs, politicians and concerned parents are joining forces to improve the meals kids eat every day.
Cafeteria Conundrum
Aug. 2005
Heather Cunningham, Chicago Parent
Article explores issues of healthier food choices in Chicago schools, looking at the progress made and also barriers that remain.
Public Schools Begin to Offer Gym Classes Online
Aug. 2, 2005
Sam Dillon, New York Times
The nation's public schools are rushing
to reconfigure scores of traditional courses from basic composition
to calculus so students can take them via the Internet. One
of the unlikely new offerings in this vast experiment is online
gym.
New
Jersey first state to ban junk food
July 28, 2005
Nation's Restaurant News
Last month New Jersey lawmakers passed one of the nation's
most sweeping laws banning the sale of candy, soda and fatty,
sugary foods in schools statewide.
Give kids a choice, they make good decision
July 27, 2005
Associated Press & Chicago Sun-Times
High school students more likely to choose the healthier option when the fat and calories are posted.
Arkansas Lays Down Vending Rules
July 26, 2005
Associated Press
Arkansas governor mandates guidelines limiting students' access to campus vending machines.
New school
builds learning around exercise, nutrition
July 13, 2005
Patrice M. Jones, Chicago Tribune
The pint-size children stretch their arms skyward, "like
a starfish" the teacher instructs, as New Age music fills
the sun-drenched room.
Junk
food facing expulsion from NJ schools
June 7, 2005
Junk food and soda will be
all but expelled from New Jersey public schools by the start
of the 2007-08 academic year under regulations announced by
the state Monday.
Eight
State Legislatures Pass Competitive Foods Legislation
May 1, 2005
School Nutrition Association
As of May 1, eight state legislatures have passed bills in
2005 concerning these issues with an emphasis on competitive
foods sold in vending machines. While the bills vary considerably,
they all share the basic desire to combat childhood obesity.
Obesity
Bill Introduced in US Senate
May 1, 2005
School Nutrition Association
In mid-April Senator Kennedy (D-MA) introduced S.799, “the
Prevention of Childhood Obesity Act” that would "make
the current epidemic a national public health priority."
Senate
OK's Junk Food Ban
April 15, 2005, The Arizona Republic
Starting next year, Arizona's elementary and middle school
students could be eating healthier.
Has
Cookie Monster given up sweets?
April 7, 2005, CNN
'Sesame Street' advocates healthy eating habits.
Schools
bring back longer lunch and recess, see gains
April 2005
Elizabeth Duffrin, Calylyst Chicago
Recess went by the wayside decades ago at most CPS elementary
schools. Today 90 percent give kids only a rushed 20 minutes
for lunch, leaving little if any time for recess, according
to a Catalyst survey of 320 schools.
Bridging
The Organic Divide
April 5, 2005
Margot Roosevelt
All LaDonna Redmond wanted was a healthy diet.
CDC
Guidelines Shown to Prevent Childhood Obesity
March 9, 2005
Samia Hamdan, MPH, RD
March 9, 2005 - Schools that implement nutrition guidelines
recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) are effective in preventing childhood obesity, according
to research published in the American Journal of Public Health.
Compromise
junk-food bill OK'd
March 9, 2005
Ryan Alessi, HERALD-LEADER FRANKFORT BUREAU
With barely 15 minutes left in its regularly scheduled
law-making session, the General Assembly last night squeezed
out legislation setting new nutrition and exercise standards
for schools aimed at the growing child-obesity crisis.
Overweight
kids a growing problem
Jan. 2, 2005
Jo Ciavaglia, Bucks County Courier Times
When Avis Anderson is a lunch monitor, it's guaranteed
someone will get scolded. She saw a boy eating an oatmeal
cookie. On the table were a Rice Krispy treat and a few pieces
of candy, along with a half-eaten baloney sandwich.
The Cafeteria
Crusader
Dec. 6, 2004
Cathy Booth-Thomas, CNN
When schools opened in Texas this fall, some favorites
were missing from the cafeteria menus: sodas and candy bars
had been banned for grade schoolers.
Milk Machines Flow Into
Schools
Dec. 6, 2004
CNN.com - Associated Press
DELAVAN, Wisconsin (AP) -- In schools across the country,
milk is replacing sodas, and nowhere is it more popular than
in America's Dairyland.
Schools give lunches
and vending machines a healthy makeover
Dec. 1, 2004
Kristen Bradley, MetroWest Daily News
With childhood obesity and diabetes a growing concern
on the national front, MetroWest schools are taking steps
to make sure food served in its cafeterias is healthy and
good for the body.
Drinking Soda Pop
Bad for Students
Nov. 17, 2004
Naperville Sun
We believe that the Naperville School District 203 board
did the right thing by voting to limit drink sales to milk,
water and 100 percent fruit juices during the school day at
the district's two high schools.
City schools to lose
their fizz
Oct. 27, 2004
Ana Beatriz Cholo, Chicago Tribune
Swapping Coke for juice in vending machines in Chicago's
public schools is supposed to help students keep off weight,
but it could also trim $15 million from the district over
five years.
Schools taste-test
healthy lunch food
Oct. 13, 2004
CNN.com - Associated Press
As she devours a sweet potato pancake at a taste test
at her school, fourth-grader Paige Murset gives her seal of
approval: "I like it. It's really, really sweet."
For Teresa Heinz
Kerry, Food Is Personal and Political
Oct. 12, 2004
The New York Times
At lunchtime in a grand old house surrounded by maples
just beginning to turn, the fragrances wafting from the kitchen
where Teresa Heinz Kerry taught her three sons to cook were
so tempting it was difficult to concentrate on the expressionist
paintings from the 1960's on the walls of the living room.
Study: Overweight
Students
Sapping School Finances
Sept. 24, 2004
CNN.com - AP
Expanding waistlines are squeezing the bottom line of
the nation's schools, as poor eating and exercise subtly strip
money from education, a new study suggests.
Food for Thought
Sept. 29, 2004
ABC Chicago - Channel 7
During this time when there's concern about the health
of America's children, school lunches are beginning to become
an important focus.
What's a Student's
Best Choice?
Sept. 22, 2004
Chicago Sun-Times
Which is better for a school child -- a school lunch or
brown bag from home? The answer may come as a surprise.
Namaste Charter
School
Fights Child Obesity - VIDEO
Sept. 3, 2004
TODAY on NBC
Namaste Charter School (Chicago, Illinois) is breaking
ground in its fight against Childhood Obesity..
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