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A New Jersey legislator who is also a doctor is proposing that candy, soda, and other sweet or salty snacks be banned from vending machines and cafeterias in his state’s public elementary and middle schools. A principal there reports that, even though healthy options are part of the snack bar offerings, “There are times when [students] prefer to go right to the slushies." Assemblyman Herb Conaway, a doctor and a Democrat, proposes the ban.
We'd love to hear about plans to curb junk foods in school in your area, or your opinions about such bans. Write us here, using the comment box below.
It stands to reason that with all the gourmet coffee shops in the world these days, teens have discovered them. And coffee-sellers are increasingly catering to that age group. Coffee consumption among the pre-adult set is up 12 percent just in the last year, and health experts are a little concerned. Adults are one thing, but caffeine can have a deleterious effect on teen bodies which are still growing—not to mention other side effects like the jitters and inability to sleep. Wacky sleep cycles can result in impaired short-term memory and learning ability, decreased productivity, negative mood, loss of behavioral control, depression and an increase in impulsiveness-—and who needs more of all that in our nation’s teens? Teens also don’t understand that caffeine creates a dependence on it — drinkers will go through withdrawal symptoms if they just stop — symptoms like throbbing headaches, fatigue, and irritability. One doc recommends no more than 1 super-caffeinated drink a day (the equivalent of about three caffeinated sodas).
Do you let your teenager drink coffee? Should teen coffee consumption be controlled? Use the comment box below to write with your opinion.
Above: Local tv crews zoom in on happy Southington High School students grabbing
our smoothies, just one of many healthy products offered in the school's new vending machines.
This was a busy week for Stonyfield and our partners at the Connecticut Department of Education and Berkshire Foods. Three new schools in Connecticut debuted our Healthy Vending Machines! Monday we hosted a sampling event at Rogers Park Middle School in Danbury where over 800 students were able to try a variety of foods that will be offered in their Stonyfield Farm Healthy Vending Machine. Tuesday, we headed over to Southington High School to host another school-wide sampling event for over 2,000 high school students. And our last sampling event was Wednesday at the Lincoln Middle School. All events were a huge success and the students loved trying the new healthy snacks.
Yesterday we capped off the week with a press conference at Southington High School, announcing that the machines were up and running and the food being sold in them was student-approved!
Want to see what kinds of things are sold in these machines?
**WIN A STONYFIELD HEALTHY VENDING MACHINE FOR YOUR SCHOOL. See Contest Rules.
A small study conducted in southwest England successfully showed that reducing the amount of carbonated beverages drunk by 7- to 11-year-olds can reduce the percentage of them who are overweight or obese. The study was one of very few focusing on one key behavior—drinking these beverages—to see what effect it had. Researchers said, “No single factor has been identified in causing the increased rates of obesity and overweight worldwide. Current literature suggests that both dietary intake and physical activity appear to play a role in the rising epidemic.”
Kids in the study were randomly enrolled in nutrition educational activities that focused on carbonated beverages and encouraged drinking water instead, eating a healthy diet, and getting more exercise. After 12 months in the program, students were drinking fewer carbonated beverages and had reduced the percentage of them who were overweight or obsese by .2 percent. Though that doesn’t appear significant, among the control group of students not participating in the nutritional education program, those who were overweight or obese increased by 7.5 percent and they consumed more carbonated beverages.
What's your take on soft drinks and kids? What remedies would you recommend? Use the comment box below to start the discussion.
Our healthy vending machines make their debut in Connecticut this Thursday at three schools which are participating in a study about healthy snack choices.
Connecticut is the fourth state to get the Stonyfield healthy vending machines, which include natural and organic snacks that meet nutrition standards and have passed a taste-test among the students. The three Connecticut schools with machines are Southington High, Rogers Park Middle, and Lincoln Middle.
The vending machines won't just be dispensing healhty snacks. They'll be studied by Connecticut Team Nutrition (a partnership of the Connecticut State Department of Education and the University of Connecticut); the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders; and the State Department of Public Health. Two other schools will participate also.
The study will work toward developing a state model for providing healthy snack choices in schools. In addition, all snacks and beverages sold in the cafeterias and vending machines of five pilot schools will meet nutrition standards to lower fat and sugar, and provide reasonable portion sizes. The research resulting from this initiative will gauge the impact of healthy snacks on overall snack sales--revenue schools rely on to augment local, state and federal funding.
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A study published last spring seems to indicate that schools could improve child nutrition by instituting a “grab and go” type of breakfast program. An experiment at one Pennsylvania middle school increased the number of students participating in the school breakfast program, even among those who were not participating in the free-breakfast program. School nutrition advocates point out that fewer and fewer students are eating breakfasts at home before the school day, and a healthy breakfast is vital for maintaining a student’s ability to learn throughout the day. The study results appeared in the Spring 2004 issue of The Journal of Child Nutrition & Management, published by the American School Food Service Association.
Should school-based breakfast programs be expanded in the public schools? Have you experienced this type of program? Use the comment box below.
Left: Sarah Murgia; Perkasie, PA; Right: Olympian Kristine Lilly
Seven-year-old Sarah Murgia is pretty excited about the upcoming weekend. That's when Athens Summer Olympics Gold Medalist and U.S. soccer legend Kristine Lilly will help coach Sarah's soccer team! Kristine's visit to Sarah's team in Perkasie, PA, is the result of a contest we held last fall for soccer enthusiasts to meet and play with one of the sport’s premier female players. Lilly has partnered with Stonyfield for the past few years. A first grader at St. Jude Catholic School in Perkasie, Sarah knew before the Olympics she would be meeting Lilly, so the Summer Games took on a special meaning. “We watched as many matches as possible,” says Tanya Murgia, Sarah’s mother. “We taped them late at night, and watched them the next day. And since we knew we had won the contest, we kept looking for Kristine.”
Sarah, who’s played soccer since she was 3, plays for a team of 6- to 7-year-olds. She likes soccer “because of all the running and all the kicking,” she explains. She also plays softball, swims and does gymnastics.
We promise to report next week on this meet-up!
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Back to school – and super-sizing
Reading and ‘riting and trans-fatty acids – our CE'Yo Gary Hirshberg wonders what we’re teaching kids about nutrition and urges action to remedy the problem of child obesity. He writes:
It’s back to school, and back to the question facing every parent in America – what’s my child eating at school and is it healthy?
I will never forget the day I innocently asked my son on the way home from school, “What did you have for lunch?” His response made me almost lose control of the car: “Skittles and pizza and chocolate milk," he said. "And he looked at me and continued, ‘What, Dad? At least I had milk.'"
Here I was, president and CEO of the largest organic yogurt company in the world, preaching about organic food, convincing several hundred farmers to convert to organic, selling several million cups of healthy organic yogurt every week, and my kid was having pizza, Skittles and chocolate milk for lunch.
Click through "Continue Reading" for the rest of Gary's editorial. We welcome your comments. Use the comment box below.
Parents like me see daily headlines about obesity, and despite the naysayers who say the problem has been over-exaggerated, the numbers are sobering: 16 percent of kids are considered overweight, compared to 6 percent in 1980. Ten percent of children have a total cholesterol count over 200 mg/dL. Overweight kids have a 70 percent chance of becoming overweight adults. Like many parents, I left the movie “Super Size Me” nodding my head in agreement that something has to be done to control our kids’ appetite – and our own -- for fast food full of fat and sugar and little else.
Yet, too many parents see this as an overwhelming cultural problem beyond their control. As both a father and CEO of a food company, I must disagree – my son’s dietary choices notwithstanding. The solutions are numerous and they are right in front of us. The only question is whether we as consumers and manufacturers are willing to act as "partners" with the food business, and summon the will to get the job done. Let’s not turn the obesity crisis into a crisis of hope.
The obesity crisis is only a symptom of a larger failure – to more responsibly examine the foods that we offer our kids. We truly are what we eat. Nowadays, most children are calcium deficient, with a particularly acute calcium crisis among adolescent girls. Osteoporosis is their certain future. Children across the US are experiencing increases in adult health issues such as hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease. Recent studies indicate that children are absorbing pesticides in levels that are far higher than EPA standards. And, excessive levels of hormones and antibiotics in our food supply are raising serious concerns in medical circles.
Everyone agrees that it’s time to pay attention to what we are feeding our children and to change the status quo. So what is holding us back? The typical answer from adults is, “If it's healthy, kids won't eat it." They’re wrong, and I have proof.
Last year, soon after the revelation about my son’s lunch choices, I decided to act. The result was the creation of the first nationwide organic healthy vending machine program. We tested the program in 15 middle and high schools in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and California by partnering with non-profit groups and school administrators. Instead of chips and cookies, our vending machines were filled with organic and all-natural snacks and drinks. The machines, offered to the schools at no cost, featured products that meet the nutritional standards set by each school.
Most significantly, we put the kids in charge. They did taste tests to select the products, and even marketed the machines to their peers. And the results? All of our initial test schools report that the healthy snacks are selling and, in some cases, selling out each day. We have a waiting list of more than 500 schools in 36 states. But this is a drop in the bucket compared to what we could be doing together to help our children.
I believe that business is one of the most powerful forces on Earth, and when business makes issues like child obesity a priority, big changes can happen.
So, now that fall is upon us, and our children return to school, let’s demand healthy food choices. We’re at the proverbial ‘tipping point,’ when interest is high and a few well-placed efforts can turn the corner on addressing the youth obesity problem.
Now’s the time to get involved with your school board. Talk to food service directors, understand the process of how food is selected and bought at your child’s school – and demand healthier choices. Get your local businesses and favorite national brands involved – you can make a difference. And educate yourself by visiting web sites on the topic – www.actionforhealthykids.org is only one of many sites offering information.
Together, we can create a hopeful future for our kids. The time to act is now.
Gary Hirshberg
Father of Three and President/CE-Yo
Stonyfield Farm Yogurt, Inc.
We welcome your comments. Use the comment box below.
In a story from the Associated Press today, Stonyfield Farm's Healthy Vending Machine program is mentioned as part of a trend toward healthier school food noticed as this year's school year gets underway. In Olympia, Washington, all the grade schools now have an organic salad bar available for students. The Seattle school district has banned junk food and is encouraging organic food in the cafeterias. And Rhode Island, California, Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire and Connecticut have or are getting Stonyfield Farm's healthy vending machines stocked with all-organic treats. As the school year gets underway, have you noticed a change at your child's school, or are you thinking about advocating for changes in school food policy? Comment below, or check out our Parent Action Kit.
Kids who do normal, vigorious activity just 40 minutes a day will be doing their adult selves a favor. According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), recent studies indicate that bone-building exercise in the younger years will influence whether or not that person develops osteoporosis as an adult, more so than any other prevention activities undertaken once they reach adulthood.“The process of creating healthy bones begins early. We should encourage children to get outside and play and engage them in vigorous, high-intensity, muscle-flexing activities,” said the study's lead author.
Who won Stonyfield Farm's contest to nominate a female candidate for president? Check out our Strong Women Daily News today and find out.
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Some good news in the area of child health—-fewer teenagers are giving birth. The birth rate among adolescents dropped to a record low in 2002, in data just published by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health. Duane Alexander, M.D., said, "This is an extremely favorable development, as teen childbearing poses added burdens for both mothers and infants."
Dr. Alexander noted that teen mothers are "much less likely to finish high school or to graduate from college than are other girls their age. Similarly, infants born to teen mothers are more likely to be of low birth weight, which increases an infant's chances for dying during infancy and for such health problems as blindness, deafness, mental retardation, mental illness, and cerebral palsy."
According to the report, birth rates for adolescents have declined steadily since 1991, reaching a record low in 2002 — 23 births for every 1,000 girls ages 15 to 17, compared to 39 in 1991.
In addition to this good news, the report also cites drops in youth commiting violent crimes or becoming the victims of violent crimes.
Check out Strong Women Daily News and you can nominate your choice for a female presidential candidate. We're taking votes until September 10.
If teens could get their hands (and feet) on a video game that is fun AND provides a much-needed cardiovascular workout, would the game be a hit? The wacky students of MIT are trying to figure that out. Okay, it’s more than a game. It’s a recumbent bicycle connected to a computer which runs the game, called CycleScore. The bike’s pedal and handlebars become the controllers. Shooting at things is part of the game and eventually the MIT developers hope to get it hooked to the internet and make it widely available. Interestingly, the guys who’s writing the computer program for this and other ideas is a freak not just about computers and video games, but about exercise. This happened, he admits, after he spent too many years playing computer games and his weight got out of hand as a result. Now, 35 pounds lighter, he’s combining his passions into a healthful alternative.
The Maine legislature is considering a ban on all advertising of junk food in the state, particularly advertising aimed at children. Many European countries have passed or are considering similar restrictions on junk food advertising aimed toward kids. Is this a good idea? Would you support such a ban in your own state, or a nationwide ban handed down by the federal government? Use the comment box below and tell us your opinion.
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
Nutrition experts have wondered if the nation’s obesity epidemic stems from poor food choices or from, well, poor food—junk food. The answer seems to be—junk! With 1/3 of the average Americans’ diet consisting of food with little or no nutritional value—soda, chips, and sweets—some want to see a new labeling system that clearly identifies these things as BAD to the average consumer. Putting a big “J” on the junk food and clearly labeling good food as good, would help people make better choices, they argue. The jury is still out on whether this is a good idea. What do you think? Does our food need different labels? What would you do? Fill in the comment box below with your opinions.
**Get in your nomination for a female U.S. presidential candidate over in the Strong Women Daily News (September 2 entry). We're taking nominations until next Friday.
Ranch dressing. Syrup. Pizza. In some Arizona schools, officials figured out a few ways they were going wrong in their breakfast and lunch programs. Their pizza had 648 calories and 20 percent of it was from fat. Kids were pouring high-fat ranch dressing over everything, and they had unlimited access to it. Ditto for the syrup at the school breakfast bar. Kids poured it on everything. “We took control of the syrup,” one official said. The salad bar has been moved front and center, and the ranch dressing is available only there, not with the condiments as before. Overly sugared breakfast cereals have been replaced by the less sweet ones.
It’s all part of an effort to have the district making healthier food options available to kids. Still, some parents don’t think the changes go far enough and that the schools are trying too hard to please kids, to the detriment of nutrition. “The kids will eat what we feed them," one parent said.
Has your school done enough? Write in to tell us your challenges getting healthier foods into schools. Use the comment box below.
What woman would you nominate to serve as U.S. president? Cast your vote today over in the Strong Women Daily News.
Kids in Washington state dine on a
newly renovated, more healthy lunch offering
last spring after their school district made a
concerted effort to serve healthier options.
An editorial in today's San Francisco Chronicle decries the failure of the California Legislature last week to pass a bill that would have required schools to make healthier food options available to students in snack bars, vending machines, schools stores and the like. The editorial points out that federal regulations regarding the nutritional content of foods served in school only applies to the school lunch program.
Should federal legislation be passed to limit the amount of junk food in public schools? Use the comment box below to write us with your opinion.
Here at the start of the school year, parents can and should get involved when they feel their child's school is making it too easy to buy junk food on school time. Check out our Parent Action Kit, put together by a coalition of nutrition advocates.
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Learn about "The Joy Diet" in today's Strong Women Daily News at Stonyfield.com
