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The youths of Salisbury, North Carolina don’t just get together to play soccer. For the town’s Food and Field Olympics, they came from summer camps and other programs to learn about healthy eating, fitness programs, and a little bit about where their food comes from. The whole point is to show kids the importance of fitness and healthy eating, while making the educational experience as fun as possible, complete with cows.
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Studies out of California seem to indicate that the consumption of fructose, which shows up in so many sweetened beverages and other products, creates a pattern of hormonal responses that may lead to obesity. Fructose consumption has grown by 20 to 30 percent in the last 30 years. Apparently after consuming fructose-laden beverages, study participants saw their insulin and leptin levels drop. These hormones tell the brain about energy levels and fat storage needs. Dropped levels may send the wrong signals. Ultimately, the drinkers may consume more calories than necessary, thinking they are still hungry. More study is needed. What is confirmed is the average teenager gets 10 to 15 perent of daily calories from soda, according to Time magazine.
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In one of the most comprehensive of such studies to date, nurses in Nebraska schools collected height and weight data from more than 40,000 kids, grades K-12, during 2002-2003. Some surprising results: male students are 24 percent more likely than females to be overweight; Black females are 47 percent more likely than white females to carry extra weight; American Indian and Hispanic students were more likely than black, white or Asian students to be overweight. The researchers said these findings confirm that poor eating habits and cultural attitudes are partly to blame, along with the obvious fact that students aren’t getting enough physical activity. Poverty may be one reason why American Indian, Hispanic and black students have higher rates of obesity. It’s not clear why males are more often overweight than females, but theories include video-game lifestysle, bulking up for sports, and lack of interest in dieting. Nebraska has appointed a governor’s task force to focus on health and fitness in the schools.
A whopping one in eight school children in North Carolina showed the early stages of heart disease in a study last fall. The state’s health director said, "We are dealing children a bad hand from the beginning, because we are not walking, not exercising, not eating well as a culture. We've really got a responsibility to our children." The state has been devising strategies to improve the health of everyone in North Carolina, whose obesity rates rank among the highest in the country.
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Changes in the food and fitness offerings at East Side Union High School in California (one of Stonyfield’s Superintendent’s Challenge winners this spring) have resulted in more students passing that state’s Fitnessgram exam. In 2001, 18 percent of students passed the fitness test, and this year they expect to pass 25 percent. An increased emphasis on sports, along with healthier lunch options and reduced junk food offerings in vending machines, are all part of the school district’s efforts to improve their students’ health.
Along with such grown-up health problems as diabetes and sleep apnea, doctors are noticing an upswing in broken bones among the nation’s youth, and it’s not because they’re climbing more trees. Extra weight and being malnourished can lead to a propensity toward broken bones. Doctors are seeing more children with hip fractures, which often result in surgery and the likelihood of arthritis in later life. One doctor's advice: Make sure your kids eat more fruits and vegetables and less candy and soda, and encourage them to log off the computer and get on a bike.
"The presence of vending machines, which sell food of little nutritional value is detrimental to the health of students and reduces the revenue of the cafeterias."
That seems like a pretty straightforward policy statement, doesn’t it? But in Franklin County, Tennessee, two county commissioners don’t seem to think taking junk food out of schools is a good idea. They figure kids will just find junk food somewhere else. Good thing they were out-voted. Last week a subcommittee of the commission recommended to the full Commission that junk food vending machines be removed from schools and the $10,000 in revenues that might be lost be appropriated to the school budget from other sources.
It was a puppet government one day in May when the folks from Sesame Street showed up at a U.S. Senate hearing to promote healthy diet and exercise habits. Two senators are proposing legislation that would promote school exercise programs and improve nutrition education in the schools. You can learn more about the television show’s health initiatives at Muppet Central. To follow the legislation being promoted by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R- Tennessee), and Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), go to the First Gov web site.
In Utah, a group of kids have turned things upside down by asking that the junk food in their school vending machines be reduced. And, we think the president of the school board there should get a special commendation for saying “…schools make too much money from vending machines to take them out of elementary schools.” Perhaps as the kids get older and overweight, their medical bills could be sent along to the school board for payment? In the meantime, we wish we could send them one of our healthy vending machines.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed what most of us suspected: people who eat fast food take in more calories than those who do not. They consumed more calories, more fats, more carbohydrates, more added sugars and more proteins. Oh, and less milk. And way too many sugary soft drinks. And this is news? Well, yes. The department had not studied such things since the mid-1990s and all the numbers have gone up since then. Also, the number of fast food restaurants in the country has increased by 25,000 over the past 25 years.
While most of this country, and a lot of the world, is catching on to the enormous health risks posed by kids being overweight or obese, one editorial writer suggests it is all the sound and fury signifying nothing. Instead of focusing on the health problems associated with being overweight, we should point out that repeated attempts at dieting are harmful to one’s health also, writes Tova Stabin of the Register Guard of Eugene, Oregon. The writer bases her argument on several studies which indicate that fat people and thin people have been shown to eat the same types and quantities of food. Do you believe her? Read her full story and decide for yourself, then send us your opinions here. We’d love to hear from you.
A researcher in Boston has discovered that air pollution may have a more adverse affect on overweight children than on children of appropriate weight. Though the study included only 611 Boston-area fourth- and fifth-graders, the Harvard researcher found the association between air pollution and lung function was 2 to 5 times stronger in overweight children.
You might think twice about telling your overweight teen to go play video games, but there’s at least one game on the market that doesn’t have the players sitting still in front of a computer screen. Instead, they’re up and dancing to Dance, Dance Revolution, a game that teaches dance steps. Teens are suddenly discovering they’ve lost pounds and inches after playing the game. Okay, so it’s not gym class with the really ugly uniforms, but it seems to work!
This fall, kids in some New Jersey public schools will get an education on obesity, exercise and healthful eating with the help of folks at Rutgers University and the Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurance company. Teachers will create the educational program, while Rutgers pharmacy students and fellows will teach it. Why the insurance company involvement? “Today's children are the first generation not expected to live longer than their parents,” according to the folks at Blue Cross.
“Are our schools here to educate our children or to be a platform for advertisers?”
That’s the question raised by Alec Molnar, Ph.D., of Arizona State University, in comments May 26 to a Health and Human Services conference on obesity and the environment. Conference participants heard that cash-strapped schools opt for soda companies and fast food chains to bring much-needed revenues to their schools, while other pressures have eliminated opportunities for school kids to work off the extra calories they consume. The article calls schools "obesity zones."
Reversing childhood obesity is just one goal of our Menu for Change program. Perhaps your child's school is serving up unhealthy fare? Our Menu for Change program includes a Parent Action Kit for parents who want to take up the worthy cause of making sure kids eat right when out of sight.
We're always happy when we're recognized here at home. Our hometown paper, The Concord (New Hampshire) Monitor, did a wonderful story today about our Menu for Change program, and the Healthy Vending machine initiative. Turns out the kids in our own back yard here in our home state of New Hampshire are having trouble with their weight, just like kids everywhere, according to a new survey conducted by the University of New Hampshire. Some schools in New Hampshire will get their own healthy vending machines in the fall. About the healthy foods offered in the Stonyfield Farm vending machines, CE'Yo Gary summed it up: "Kids will eat this stuff." At home, Gary keeps a separate refrigerator stocked with yogurt. His children's friends empty it each weekend. "It's like locusts," he said.
Today we are participating in ceremonies honoring five public school districts in California for implementing innovative nutrition and fitness programs. Each winning school will receive a $2500 cash award from Stonyfield Farm. The winners are: San Francisco Unified School District; East Side Union High School, San Jose; Ukiah Unified School District, Mendocino County; Alisal Union School District, Salinas; and Kernville Union School District. Congratulations to them for thinking outside the lunchbox!
This is the culmination of the state Superintendent’s Challenge, in partnership with California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction and the California Task Force on Youth and Workplace Wellness. California Superintendent Jack O’Connell and State Senator Tom Torlakson, chair of the Task Force, joined today's celebration.
Despite daily headlines describing the enormity of the child obesity and health crisis, these school districts have tackled the issue head-on – and their efforts are making kids healthier and, in some cases, better behaved.
One winning district reports a decrease in student suspensions; another is teaching kids how to grow their own healthy produce; yet another winner encourages parents to send healthier snacks to schools in their kids’ lunchboxes.
Our lids are off to California!
Our company participates in these kinds of partnerships as part of our Menu for Change program.
Read more about California's task force.
Tomorrow Stonyfield honors five California public schools which have adopted new policies and programs to encourage students to eat better and exercise more. The five schools—we can’t name them yet—will receive a cash award from us. The innovative programs include after school health clubs and exercise times during the school day; nutrition classes, including several ways for students to learn about gardening, farming and fresh produce; healthier fare being offered in cafeterias and school-based vending machines; and even encouragment to reduce the focus on junk food at school parties and fundraising events. These are the types of things the Menu for Change program and our healthy vending machines are trying to encourage and we celebrate along with these marvelous California schools!
On Friday, June 4, we'll be celebrating with California’s Superintendent of Schools and the California Task Force on Youth and Workplace Wellness to recognize five California school districts for implementing innovative nutrition and fitness programs. Five winning schools will each receive $2,500 from our company. While we can't yet tell you who the winning schools are, we wanted to share one winning district's "Lessons Learned" list.
Lessons Learned
* Kids will eat healthier food, especially if it is something they requested. Our students asked for vegetarian chili, soup, and deli sandwiches, and all are top sellers.
* Soda and junk food affects kids’ behavior more than we realized. Teachers and staff at many schools commented that the first change they noticed when these items were removed from campus was better behavior and kids more focused in class.
* Read the labels. A manufacturer or distributor may make misleading claims for a product. One claimed their beverage contained only 100% fruit juice, when the label clearly stated that the main ingredients were water and sugar.
* Many people are still in denial about the obesity crisis. Parent fundraising is often based on junk food like candy, soda, and chips. It takes a long time to get well-meaning, volunteer parents to recognize that a food which is unhealthy for a kid at 11 a.m., does not magically become healthy after the school bell rings, or that "But we really need the money" is not an excuse for selling unhealthy food to children. Teachers rewarding good behavior with candy likewise rationalize away their actions ("One candy bar won’t kill anyone!"); getting them to realize that schools, and especially teachers, need to be part of the solution and not part of the problem, can be very challenging.
