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Community Forums:
Food, Fitness, and Our Kids
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Action for Healthy Kids
Source: Action for Health Kids
Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK)
is a nationwide initiative dedicated to improving the health and
educational performance of children through better nutrition and
physical activity in schools. Also available on this site is a
searchable database of programs and policies that have been
successfully implemented in schools and communities
nationwide. http://www.actionforhealthykids.org
Best, Worst Snacks For Kids Listed
Source: Seattle Post Intelligencer On-Line, September 16, 2003
While children need to exercise to keep their waistlines trim, schools
could do their part by offering healthier snacks in school in place
of junk food and sodas, activists say. As part of a campaign to
reduce the number of sugary soft drinks and candy bars sold in
schools, the Center for Science in the Public Interest put out a
list Monday of some of the healthiest and worst snacks for children.
California Signs Into Law Childhood Obesity Prevention Act
Source: California Center for Public Health Advocacy, September 18, 2003
The California Childhood Obesity Prevention Act of 2003 - Senator
Deborah Ortiz On Tuesday, September 16th, Governor Gray Davis signed
SB 677 (Ortiz) into law, ensuring that only healthy beverages are
sold on elementary, middle and junior high school campuses,
beginning on July 1, 2004. This bill is an important step towards
expanding on the success of SB 19 (2001 - Escutia) and addressing
the childhood obesity epidemic in California.
http://www.publichealthadvocacy.org/legislation/legislation_2003.html
Group Targets Soda in Schools to Help Fight Obesity Problem
Source: Wall Street Journal, January 5, 2004
Soft drinks should be eliminated from schools to help tackle the nation's obesity
epidemic and pediatricians should work with their local schools to
ensure that children are offered healthful alternatives, the American
Academy of Pediatrics says.
The Junk-food Bin in the School Hall
Source: Seattle Times, January 28, 2004
Public schools that sell junk food and soft drinks to children are contributing to the nation's
childhood-obesity epidemic. It's time for them to stop. Last
year, this page stopped short of supporting a statewide ban on soft
drinks in public schools. But times are changing. It is becoming
increasingly clear that obesity is a public-health issue that demands
bold state action. There's not sufficient political will to ban
soda and junk food sales this legislative session, as one bill
proposes. Alternative pending legislation would create a model
nutrition policy for the state and require districts to adopt their
own policies by 2005. It's a decent compromise for now.
PDF
Legislation Aims to Make School Snacks Healthier
Source: Tennessean, February 9, 2004
When Valerie Cantrell's son started kindergarten, she was asked to give
him a few dollars for snacks. That
was fine, at least until she found out the snacks available to her
5-year-old were a bag of chips and a soda.
No Soda in Schools
Source: State Health Notes, January 26, 2004
In an effort to reduce childhood obesity, on Jan. 5, the American
Academy of Pediatrics released a policy statement encouraging
schools to eliminate soda from vending machines and to sell
only real fruit and vegetable juices, water and low-fat milk.
The policy points out that sweetened drinks constitute the
primary source of added sugar in the daily diet of children,
and that each 12-ounce serving of a carbonated, sweetened soft
drink contains the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar. The
Academy reports that soft drink consumption has been
associated with the increased risk of overweight and obesity,
currently the most common childhood condition. The policy also
recommends that pediatricians advocate the creation of a
school advisory council to ensure that schools adopt
nutritional policies based on the needs of children; that
school districts publicly discuss any vending machine
contracts before signing; and, that the consumption or
advertising of soft drinks within the classroom should be
eliminated. To read the policy, visit www.aap.org/policy/s010119.html.
OBESITY: A Weighty Issue For Children
Source: Environmental Health Perspectives, Volume 111, Number 13, October 2003
Oh, to be a child in America: Morning cartoons with a breakfast of
sugar-coated cereal, hours on the sofa munching chips and playing
video games, matinee movies enjoyed with mega-sized servings of soda
and popcorn, frozen dinners followed by more hours of surfing
computer chat rooms, and finally bed. In all, this combination of
inactivity and gluttonous feeding, which is shared by millions of
American children, fuels one of the country» s most alarming
pediatric problems: obesity. According to America» s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2003,
issues in July 2003 by the Federal Interagency Forum on Children and
Family Statistics, the number of over-weight and obese children in
the United States has more than doubled in the last two decades.
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2003/111-13/focus.html
Obesity Cost Taxpayers $39B in 2003
Source: USA Today, January 22, 2004
Obese Americans -- those who are 30 or more pounds over a healthy weight --
cost the country about $75 billion in weight-related medical bills in
2003, and taxpayers paid for about half of that, a study revealed
Wednesday. Almost 65% of Americans weigh too much. Extra weight
increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, several types of cancer
and other diseases.
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040122/5859923s.htm
Obesity is Linked to Rising Disability in Younger Adults
Source: Wall Street Journal, January 9, 2004
Disability among Americans in
the prime of their working lives has risen sharply in the past two
decades, another consequence of the nation's obesity epidemic.
Researchers at Rand Corp. found a 40% to 50% rise in recent years in
the number of people from the ages of 30 to 49 whose ability to care
for themselves or perform routine tasks was limited by disability
Obesity: Not just a phase kids outgrow
Source: AMEDNEWS.COM, Editorial. Dec. 22/29, 2003
ddressing weight issues with children and adolescents requires a
multifaceted approach from physicians that often involves the
entire family.
For more information, visit http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2003/12/22/edsa1222.htm
Obesity
Turning Into Major Threat for Nation» s Kids
Source: Seattle Times, February 4, 2004
When Alex was a baby, his round cheeks and chubby legs were admired by all.
"You've got yourself a little football player," smiling
strangers would tell his mother, Rana Hilderbrand» How did nearly 9
million U.S. children get this way, so overweight that their health is
at risk? Nine million more are almost there. That's triple the rates
of a generation ago, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2001850357_weightkids04.html
Panel Set to Rid Florida School of Junk Food
Source: Unknown, December 30, 2003
Potato chips, soft drinks and other junk food may disappear from Florida schools under 21 draft
recommendations approved by the governor's task force on obesity.
Perspective: Overweight in Childhood and Adolescence
Source: NEJM, February 26, 2004, Vol. 350, No. 9
The prevalence of overweight doubled among children 6 to 11 years
of age and tripled among those 12 to 17 years of age between the
second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted
between 1976 and 1980, and the most recent such survey, conducted
in 1999 and 2000.
Physical Fitness Plan
Source: State Health Notes, January 12, 2004
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle used a Dec. 8th visit to a Green Bay elementary
school to update the physical education curriculum to
encourage greater emphasis on fitness. Doyle also
launched a Governor» s Healthy Kids Initiative website that
will provide students and parents with information on health
and fitness issues, along with links to programs and resources
on the web. As part of the initiative, he announced 17
appointments to his Council on Physical Fitness and Health. In
the past, Doyle noted, » gym classes have traditionally
emphasized team sports. Today,» he continued, » we need to
teach our kids fitness activities they can use throughout
their lifetime.» According to a release, 16 percent of
Wisconsin children are obese, four times the rate in the
1960s, increasing the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure,
and heart and gall bladder disease.
Physicians Key to Winning Fight Against Fat
Source: AMEDNEWS.COM, January 12, 2004
Just before the Obesity Action Workshop at last month's AMA Interim Meeting a doctor
approached Melvyn Sterling, MD, to express his frustration that
nothing he did seemed effective in helping patients manage their
weight. Dr. Sterling, the forum moderator and an internist from
Huntington Beach, Calif., was not surprised. He explained later that
his colleague's comment illustrates the struggle doctors face in
trying to deal with obesity. They don't think there is much they can
do. And their hopelessness is so pervasive that numerous studies show
they often don't even ask patients about their weight. http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/01/12/hlsc0112.htm
Prevalence of No Leisure-Time Physical Activity » 35 States and the District of Columbia, 1988-2002
Source: MMWR Weekly, February 6, 2004
Physical inactivity is associated with obesity and increased risk for chronic
diseases (e.g., cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, and diabetes
mellitus) and premature mortality
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5304a4.htm
Representative Hastings Calls Fruit The Root Of Nutrition
Source: Yakima Herald On-Line, September 23, 2003
Kids who ate more fresh fruit and vegetables under a trial federal
program were more attentive in class, made fewer visits to the
school nurse and were more likely to pick healthy foods for snacks
and meals, a U.S. Department of Agriculture study has found. Hardly
brain surgery. But at a time of alarming increases in obesity among
kids, the obvious is worth promoting in public schools, U.S. Rep.
Doc Hastings said Monday. http://www.yakima-herald.com/premium/278712609922142.news
Researchers Link Ads to Childhood Obesity
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 24, 2004
Thousands of advertisements for candy and sugary foods help fuel the epidemic of childhood obesity
in America, a pair of new studies asserts.
The Kaiser Family Foundation said in a study released Tuesday
that the main mechanism through which the media contributes to
childhood obesity is through billions of dollars worth of advertising.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/printer/ap.asp?category=1500&slug=Advertising%20Children
Senate Passes Nutrition/Physical Activity Bill
Source: ASTHO Adolescent and School Health, January 2004
The U.S. Senate recently approved the » Improved Nutrition and
Physical Activity Act,» or » IMPACT Act,» in order to
address overweight and obesity. The Act creates and
expands grants to improve nutrition and physical activity
behaviors among youth, targeting schools and communities among
other important partners. View the details of
S.1172 at: http://thomas.loc.gov.
http://www.astho.org/newsletter/newsletters/1/display.php?u=Jmk9MSZwPTU4JnM9NDM5
States and cities, exercised over obesity, work to fight it
Source: Seattle PI, December 23, 2003
Fighting to shed a few pounds and control that waistline? For the soaring
number of Americans who are becoming dangerously overweight, states
and cities across the country want to help. With the U.S. surgeon
general calling obesity an epidemic, legislators nationwide are
offering measures to encourage healthy food choices and ban the
worst temptations. Skeptics say government should stay away from
trying to legislate something as personal as what we eat. But
supporters say they can't ignore a growing public health problem or
how it drives the ever-rising cost of health care. For more information, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/153605_health23.html
Student Obesity Targeted
Source: Washington Post, February 10, 2004
Soda at lunch would be out.
Gym class would be in, possibly every day of the week. And all
students in Maryland's public schools would have to report their
weight to federal researchers. Calling obesity a national
epidemic that is costing Maryland residents billions of dollars, a
Montgomery County delegate yesterday touted a package of legislation
aimed at improving nutritional standards in schools and promoting
exercise.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A30235-2004Feb10?language=printer
Students Learn to Dispense with Sodas
Source: LA Times, February 12, 2004
Nibbling at the ice cream cone he said was his lunch, eyes fixed longingly on
the campus vending machine where the Pepsi used to be, Yan Popkov
revealed himself to be an unhappy young man. "I hate it!" the 14-year-old Hollywood High freshman said of
the Los Angeles Unified School District's month-old ban on sugary
sodas. "Soda is basically the only thing I drink. It's the only
reason I'm up."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-soda12feb12,1,393358,print.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Tubby Tots: How Parents Can Help Overweight Kids
Source: Seattle Times, February 4, 2004
No doubt you've seen the headlines, the warnings, the government reports
all declaring childhood obesity an epidemic. Stories lamenting the
super-sizing of our children may have you wondering if your own are at
risk of becoming a statistic.
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=weightparents04&date=20040204
TV Viewing Impacts Adolescents» Eating Patterns
Source: ASTHO Adolescent and School Health, December 2003
Research in a December Pediatrics article found that television
viewing is inversely associated with fruit and vegetable
intake among adolescents. Researchers examined the
association between television/video viewing per day and
students» fruit and vegetable intake. For each
additional hour of TV/video viewed, youths» fruit and
vegetable servings decreased. Boynton-Jarret R,
et al. (2003). Impact of Television Viewing Patterns on
Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Among Adolescents. Pediatrics,
112(6): 1321-1326.
http://www.astho.org/newsletter/newsletters/1/display.php?u=Jmk9MSZwPTM4JnM9MjUz
Urge Your Children to Put Down Sugar-Filled Drinks
Source: The Olympian, February 24, 2004
The alarming increase in childhood obesity and subsequent poor health leave many
parents wondering how to adjust their family's lifestyle.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has advice. Calling being
overweight "the most common medical condition of childhood,"
the academy's January journal stated that the high intake of soft
drinks is one big culprit, causing overweight and obesity, displacing
milk's dietary benefits and resulting in more cavities and eroding
tooth enamel.
http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20040224/living/424.shtml
U.S. Teens More Overweight Than Youth in 14 Other Countries
Source: ASTHO: Adolescent and School Health, February 2004
U.S. teens are more likely to be overweight than are teens from 14
other industrialized nations, according to an article in the
Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Researchers, looking at BMI in 13- and 15-year-olds, found the
highest prevalence of overweight in the United States and the
lowest in Lithuania. The prevalence of overweight in the
United States was 12.6% and 10.8% in 13-year-old boys and
girls, respectively, and 13.9% and 15.1% in 15-year-old boys
and girls. The highest prevalences of overweight were
found in the United States, Ireland, Greece, and Portugal.
Study authors stressed the importance of obesity prevention at
a young age, since many overweight youth remain obese as
adults.
http://www.astho.org/newsletter/newsletters/1/display.php?u=Jmk9MSZwPTcyJnM9NTQ3
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