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In West Virginia, the Y isn’t just for basketball anymore. The YMCAs there and some select cities are about to undertake a 10-year effort to change public policy and take on a holistic approach to improving people’s health. Included in their efforts will be a push for more physical education classes in public schools. Rates of obesity are high in West Virginia and more than one quarter of survey respondents there said they had had no physical activity during the past month!
What can your community do--as a community--to combat the growing epidemic of obesity? Use the comment box below to get the discussion going.
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Or, visit our other blogs and join the discussion:
On enviromental issues: The Dairy Planet
Stress-busting and fitness strategies:Strong Women Daily News
Daily life and challenges at Stonyfield Farm: The Daily Scoop
The challenges of organic dairy farming: The Bovine Bugle
According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, experts are calling for the addition of calcium and Vitamin D to cereals, much like other fortifications to this popular breakfast food. Americans don’t get nearly enough calcium and Vitamin D, which can help prevent osteoporosis and colon cancer. By adding these to cereals, experts say, the incidence of these diseases may be reduced. What do you think? Is this a good idea, or should we just be encouraging folks to get these vitamins and minerals by eating a balanced diet?
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What's the connection between Stonyfield Farm and a Gold Medal winner in the on-going Olympics Games in Athens? Check out Strong Women Daily News to find out.
Kristine Lilly, left, with teammates in practice earlier this year, taking a break with our Smoothies.
Last year we partnered with Kristine Lilly, soccer player for the Boston Breakers and the U.S. Women's Soccer Team. Now we're cheering her on as she competes in the Olympics! The team beat Germany on Monday to advance to the gold-medal game, this Thursday against Brazil. Go, Kristine!
Read the news account in The Mercury News, then follow the daily updates at the Olympic site.
Kristine has been a mainstay of U.S. women's soccer since 1987, when she started her first seven games for the Women's National Team. She was one of 20 Women's United Soccer Association Founding Players, and the Boston Breakers' inaugural season captain and Most Valuable Player. Kristine has played in more international soccer games than any man or woman in the world.
Kristine partnered with us here at Stonyfield in last year's Strong Women Summit, and took part in a contest we sponsored to "Win Kristine Lilly for a Day." The winner gets to have Kristine host a soccer clinic with her team, which will happen this fall. (Sorry, the contest is already closed.)
Kristine is keen on the idea of helping young women and girls stay active in order to fight the rising tide of obesity among this nation's youth.
Kristine reports on her activities (though not while in the MIDST of the Olympics) at her own web site. We suspect she'll have plenty to say after this Thursday!
About the over-time win against Germany, Kristine said, "Both teams were balanced. We were fortunate to score in the extra-time period and get a wonderful victory. We believed in our strength. Our team had the chance to pass to the final and we didn't let the chance go."
When school starts in Nashua, New Hampshire (very near Stonyfield Farm) in a week or two, the Coca-Cola vending machines won’t actually be dispensing Coke. Instead, kids can opt for water, juices, flavored water and sports drinks from the machines. And the sports drinks will only be available after school. The district’s school board wanted to get rid of sugared sodas under is new “Healthy Nutrition” policy, but a contract with the Coke company prevents the schools from getting rid of the machines altogether. A recent nationwide survey showed that 75 percent of the drinks and 85 percent of the snacks sold in school vending machines are of poor nutritional value.
What's your opinion? Should schools allow the sale of junk food in vending machines in order to gain much-needed revenue? Use the comment box below.
Learn about the controversial practice of tail-docking in dairy cattle over in The Bovine Bugle today.
A correlation exists between people who live in entirely residential areas, like the suburbs, and obesity, according to researchers at the University of British Columbia and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People who spend a lot of time in their cars and people who don’t walk much were at a similar disadvantage. This risk of obesity rose 6 percent for each hour spent in a car every day. While the study was not conclusive, it may mean city planners should take these kinds of things into consideration to improve the health of children and adults.
Do your kids get enough exercise? Is their city to blame? Fill out the comment box below.
The Associated Press is telling the world today about how vending machine fare in schools is being renovated by programs such as Stonyfield Farm's Healthy Vending program. With some companies, granola bars, PowerBars, salads, energy drinks and smoothies are becoming commonplace offerings in vending machines. In the Associated Press article, we assert that our healthy vending machines will survive if put up against a Coke machine! Our healthy vending program has placed 15 vending machine, selling only food that meets nutritional guidelines, into public schools in three states, with more to come this fall. All of the Stonyfield healthy vending machines are stocked with baked pita chips instead of potato chips, and yogurt drinks instead of soda, for example, and every product has been student-taste-tested and approved. Check out a sample of some common offerings in the machines.
Should junk food vending machines be allowed in public schools? Tell us your opinion using the comment box below.
** Read the story of how one woman committed to climbing Mount Washington, New England's highest peak, after attending our Strong Women Summit, in The Strong Women Daily News. **
Yesterday, here in Creating Healthy Kids, we talked about how soft drink consumption has replaced milk consumption in teens, and the risk this poses for teens to become overweight. Well, it turns out that the soft drink-drinking habits of parents has a greater influence on children than children's peers. Thirty percent of children reported drinking soft drinks daily, and 85 percent of those are drinking the regular, fully-sugared type, not diet soda. Children with parents who drink a lot of soft drinks may find that their own consumption is not restricted or that their parents are lax in enforcement of soft drinking rules. The availability of soft drinks at home and at school in vending machines is strongly associated with children's soft drink consumption.
Learn about Stonyfield Farm's program to replace junk food-dispensing vending machines with healthy vending machines in public schools.
Are you a parent with some tips on handling soft drink consumption with your own teenagers? Send your tips by filling out the comment box below.
** Read the story of how one woman committed to climbing Mount Washington, New England's highest peak, after attending our Strong Women Summit, in The Strong Women Daily News. **
Teenagers are drinking more soda and less milk than they did 20 years ago, a fact that researchers are now theorizing has contributed to the increase in obesity among teens. A study showed that adolscent girls who drank milk weighted less than girls who drank soda, even if they consumed the same number of calories. The milk-drinkers also had less body fat. Among the soda drinkers, fat accumulated in their middle, which is associated later in life with greater health risks. This and other research lately has pointed to the role dairy plays in regulating body fat.
i>Read to story of how our Strong Women Summit inspired one woman to climb to the highest point in New England, in The Strong Women Daily News today.
In a small study at one children’s hospital, researchers found that doctors failed to take notice of a child’s weight problem. This may be because doctors think a child will “grow out of” the problem, but overweight 6-year-olds are quite likely to become overweight adults. After these findings, hospital staff were trained to calculate a child’s Body Mass Index (BMI). Researchers said obesity sneaks up on parents, so doctors shouldn’t be afraid to mention it to the parent with child check-ups and office visits.
What's your opinion? How can parents deal with their child's weight problem? What should a doctor's role be? Use the comment box below to get in on the discussion.
Visit The Bovine Bugle today and learn about blueberry picking in Vermont.
Or, visit our other blogs and join the discussion:
On enviromental issues: The Dairy Planet
Stress-busting and fitness strategies:Strong Women Daily News
Daily life and challenges at Stonyfield Farm: The Daily Scoop
In France, Parliament has taken the drastic step of banning all junk food vending machines in French schools as an effort to combat the rising obesity rates of that country's children. Just as in the U.S., France's youth are getting plump. Currently, 16 to 19 percent are considered obese. The ban won't take effect until September 2005. While sugared soft drinks are often the culprit for weight gain in U.S. youths, apparently a sugared alcoholic drink is way too popular with French youths, who can legally drink alcohol at age 16!
What do you think? Should the United States consider a total ban on junk food vending machines in public schools? Write your opinion in the comment box below. We'd love to hear what you think!
In this election year, why not take some time to pay attention to the public policy initiatives floating around? Many folks are proposing local, state and national initiatives to combat the growing trend in childhood obesity and overweight. Often, these pieces of legislation are encouraging or requiring public schools to do better in feeding our children. Research the issues, then, when candidates come knocking at your door, calling on your phone, or shaking your hand at the town parade, ask them how they plan to address the issue. One piece of legislation before Congress is a bill sponsored by Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat from Iowa. Harkin’s bill, the HeLP (Healthy Lifestyles and Prevention) American Act of 2004, seeks to get junk food out of schools and to limit the ways companies can market to kids. You can read some background research for this bill and decide for yourself if it's a good idea.
