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The Journal of Pediatrics has reported that too much television-watching on the part of young kids may be responsible for short atention spans and, possibly, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The more television infants and toddlers watch, the more attention problems they had later in school. Every hour of television increased odds of attention problems by 10 percent. The study included 1300 7-year-olds who had watched television when they were ages 1 to 3. Kids who had watched three hours of television a day were 30 percent more likely to have attention challenges than children who hadn't watched television. The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends that children under age 2 watch no television, and older children should watch no more than 2 hours a day of quality programming. The theory is that the ever-changing images on a television screen have a direct effect on the "wiring" of the developing brains in these very young children.
What are your thoughts on young children and their television habits? Write us here using the comment box below.
Got a cute baby in your life? Check out news of our YoBaby Cover Baby photo contest today over in The Daily Scoop.
Stonyfield's nutritionist, Vicki Koenig, draws our attention to a report just out in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association about the attitudes parents hold regarding the availability of soft drinks in schools. While soft drink vending machines are available in 98 percent of the high schools in the United States, parental attitudes about this have not been studied. The conclusions drawn after a small focus group convened in Minneapolis, Minnesota is a mixed bag. Parents felt high school students needed to be trusted with making their own decisions when buying soft drinks in school, yet parents were unaware of just how available they were and favored limiting the number of hours students had access to vending machines. Parents knew the ill health effects of consuming too many sugared soft drinks, but did not favor state regulation of vending machines. They favored alternative choices in drinks being offered. Parents seemed in support of the idea of schools (as opposed to retail stores) making money on vending machines, as long as the students were going to buy soft drinks anyway. Parents said they were far less concerned about soft drink consumption than consumption of cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, or even coffee.
Have you own opinion about schools, soft drinks, and high school vending machines? Write us here using the comment box below.
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Obese children as young as seven already have the beginnings of artery disease, Italian and U.S. researchers have reported. The carotid arteries of 100 obese children ages 6 to 14 in the study showed signs of thickening and becoming stiff. The children also appeared to be at higher risk for diabetes, with insulin resistance. The childen had higher blood pressure and cholesterol levels than children of normal weight. "In adults, arterial thickening has been shown to be a precursor of arterial narrowing and to predict clinical coronary artery disease," said one researcher.
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Stonyfield Farm was mentioned recently in USA Today identifying a trend toward healthier drinks for kids. (We have new Juice Smoothies, in addition to our regular, all-yogurt Smoothies out there in the market.) The article reports that this trend appears to be a backlash to the known problems associated with too much sugared soft-drink drinking among children, contributing to the nation’s obesity crisis. Drinks are now 20 percent of the products produced by Stonyfield Farm, says CE’Yo Gary in this article. Even companies like Pepsi and Coke are getting into the milk-based drink market, seeing, perhaps, the handwriting on the school walls?
Sweetened soft drinks may be more than just bad news for the waistline and teeth, they may also contribute to the onset of diabetes. Harvard researchers are taking flak for making this claim, but they stick to their guns—it seems that the body absorbs the sugars in soda rapidly, and this may make all the difference. In the Harvard study, even when all other factors were considered, women who drank one sugary drink a day were 1.3 times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those who did not drink sugared drinks. All agree more research is needed.
Today we know that some teens drink more soda than water and milk combined. We also know that Type 2 diabetes is out of control among our children. How do you limit soda consumption with your kids? Write us using the comment box below.(There will be a delay, but your comment will eventually appear.)
Visit our other blogs and join the discussion:
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
Tomorrow Stonyfield Farm begins a partnership with the Chicago public schools in their efforts to reduce child obesity. Our healthy vending machines are debuting at the Caruso Middle School and the Francis W. Parker School, Chicago, and at the Alan B. Shepard Middle School, in nearby Deerfield. The launch of the machines coincides with a two-day summit there, put on by The Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children to focus on tackling the problem of overweight, out-of-shape children in area public schools.
The healthy vending machine, filled with an assortment of organic and natural snacks from companies ranging from Organic Valley to Stacy’s to Newman’s Own Organics -- as well as Stonyfield’s own organic yogurt smoothies -- will provide Chicago area students with the best in taste and a healthier alternative to traditional school snacks.
“We’re very pleased to be entering this partnership with Stonyfield Farm to provide our students with healthier food choices during lunch and after school events,” says Dr. William Ristow, Caruso Middle School principal. “Through our health and consumer education programs, we try to give students information about the effects of unhealthy snacks, and how they can start now to develop healthy habits that will last into their adulthood. This vending machine puts those lessons into practice.”
Return to Creating Healthy Kids later this week for more news of healthy vending coming to Chicago.
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Win a healthy vending machine for your school!
In this election year, why not take some time to pay attention to the public policy initiatives floating around? Many politicians and would-be politicians 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. 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 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.
The Green Bay Packers have made a series of commercials to encourage kids in the Green Bay, Wisconsin area to fight obesity, as just one part of a program that also includes a nutrition education curriculum and physical education. The new curriculum began with the new school year this fall. The trial program will be expanded beyond Green Bay if it is successful. Our lids are off to The Packers!
According to a Reuters news story, kids who are overweight aren't just overweight, they probably have the beginnings of artery disease! A study of 100 obese children showed their carotid arteries were already becoming thick and stiff (which in older people is an indicator of stroke risk). Signs also pointed toward a higher risk of diabetes for these chidlren.The study shows that obesity acts quickly to damage the arteries of children, and that parents and doctors need to act quickly to protect them, the researchers said. "It is important for parents of obese children to help their children control their weight and get early treatment for these obesity-associated risk factors," one researcher said.
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Check out the new look to our healthy vending machines. These machines are part of our Menu for Change program. You can win one of these for your school. Our "Good for You" Healthy Vending Sweepstakes gives principals, teachers, parents, food service directors, school board members and others a chance to take an active role in bringing healthier food to their students and their school. Stonyfield will provide a state-of-the-art refrigerated healthy vending machine at no cost for one year to a middle, junior high or high school. The sweepstakes is open to anyone anywhere in the continental United States. Check out the complete rules, then get your entry form and send it in by December 31, 2004.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger did a good thing for girl athletes last week by signing into law a requirement that city and county sports activities be gender-balanced. Advocates say the law could help thousands of mostly low-income girls participate in recreational activities, where parks programs often offer many more opportunities for boys and provide boys with better equipment and playing fields. Though the federal law known as Title IX has been around since 1972--prohibiting discrimination in all educational and other activities that receive federal funding--it does not apply to state, county and city-based programs. In Los Angeles alone, 24,000 girls play sports through the city's Parks and Recreation Department. Now that the bill is law, other states will be watching to see how the law affects municipalities. Nationwide, for instance, more than 1.2 million girls play on 83,000 community slow-pitch softball teams. We tip our lids to Governor Arnold!
Has your community struggled with gender-equity in sports at the local level? Write us with your comments below.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering getting rid of the now-familiar Food Pyramid, in part because it is being blamed on the rise in obesity rates in this country! Apparently, when folks saw the recommendation about 6 to 11 servings of grain daily, they took it to mean 11 slices of bread in a day were okay! (Hint: Eleven servings are for those with revved-up metabolisms, such as teenage boys.) Maybe you could help out the USDA and suggest some changes? That’s what they want. Along with a review of the pyramid, the department wants ideas on a catchy slogan and other consumer information. What do you think of the current Food Pyramid? Is it helpful in teaching nutrition in the schools? Write us with your comments below.
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According to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, too much television and not enough recreational opportunities puts young black girls at a high risk for obesity. Participants in the study said their neighborhood wasn’t safe to be outside or they couldn’t afford other types of recreational activities. Problems in the neighborhood included lack of sidewalks, unrestrained dogs, and no recreational facilities. Parents didn’t feel they could leave their children unsupervised, so watching television was seen as a viable alternative, "Inactive children are likely to remain inactive throughout childhood, adolescence and young adulthood, and are at high risk for obesity," one researcher commented.
