With nearly 33% of children in America considered to be overweight or obese - a rate that has tripled in adolescents and more than doubled in younger children since 1980 - an Obama Administration task force recently established a goal of reducing the childhood obesity rate to just 5% by 2030, less than a generation away.
To read more, download the pdf
According to C & R's Youth Beat, kids eat at a restaurant 2.5 times a month. In an average 30-day month, there are 150 meal occasions:
- 30 Breakfasts
- 30 Lunches
- 30 Dinners
- 60 Snacks (at twice a day)
If kids are only going to restaurants 2-3 times a month, they account for only
2 percent of all meal occasions.
To read more, download the pdf
President Bill Clinton Honors 179 U.S.
Schools
The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, founded by the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation, today recognized 179 schools that have transformed their campuses into healthier places for students and staff.
To read more, download the pdf
I would like to share a blog post on blogher.com by Jill Miller Zimon regarding some of the opinions from parents surrounding the recent San Francisco Toy Ban legislation.
The toy ban that is trying to be passed through legislation will ban an “incentive” (aka toys), if a single food item has more than 200 calories or if the entire meal is more than 600 calories, which means too bad for children who choose McDonalds…a typical hamburger has at least 250 calories!  There will also be limits on fat and sodium intake as well.
The legislation has gained attention of many bloggers following the subject with several different opinions. In reply to an Eat Drink Better post by Jeannie Moulton, a follower stated:
“Ban the toys if you want … my kids would ask for Happy Meals even if they came without a toy. They actually enjoy that conglomeration of chemicals & processed food particles that McDonald’s calls chicken nuggets. But as their PARENT, I make the CHOICE not to feed them that garbage except on extremely rare occasions, even though they often whine & beg. Not only that, I EXPLAIN to them WHY I don’t allow them to have it. That’s really the problem here — toys may be a marketing tool to encourage children to ask their parents for a product … but ultimately it’s up to the parent to say NO, not the government to make laws banning toys or even ingredients.”
