Rite Aid Foundation

The Rite Aid Foundation is offering funding to nonprofit organizations that focus on children's health and wellness in the communities in which Rite Aid operates. Benefit your entire community by improving children's health—past recipients have used the grants for everything from disability services assistance to fitness initiatives. The Foundation accepts proposals throughout the year and the next deadline is October …

Here's a neat PDF that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation compiled from their 30 tweets of 30 facts about childhood obesity, during Childhood Obesity Month.

Download HERE.

Contributed by Andrea Bossenmeyer

The City of San Francisco just banned giving toys with Childrens' Happy Meals citing they contain too much fat and sugar. Proponents of the legislation suggest that toys are the culprit of poor food choices for the young set.

According to the ban, if a restaurant wants to give out toys, they need to include fruits and vegetables with the meal. So "Mickey D's"...all that would be required is to …

Contributed by JC Boushh This week I have been focusing on old-fashion play and the consequences we face when we do not allow children every opportunity to play. I reside in Southern California, which in my opinion has some of the nicest weather in the country year round, but to astonishment I have visited numerous child care centers were at the slightest sign of overcast skies or rain showers the kids are corralled inside to ride out the storm.…

by Andrea Bossenmeyer

A great free resource came into my inbox today. We all know we should eat at least 4-5 servings of fruits and veggies everyday. Here's a great way to find locally grown across US & Canada. The Eat Well Guide® is a free online directory featuring over 22,000 listings where anyone can search for fresh, locally grown and sustainably produced food.

And if you live in Wisconsin Farm Aid is having a 25th Bday Celebration.

T…

Contributed by JC BoushhThe human brain is a miraculous organ, and over the last two decades we have learned more about the brain than we have in the entire history of the human race. Advancements in brain imaging have allowed researchers to discover a vital link between brain health and physical activity. The effects of physical activity increase the brain’s ability to learn and make vital neural connections throughout our lifespan and especial…

Contributed by JC BoushhAccording to the recent findings published in The New England Journal of Medicine researchers from the obesity center at Temple University are seeing an overall decline in childhood obesity in their study group of 4,500 students. Researchers followed students from sixth grade to eighth grade and half of the students in the study were involved in higher levels of physical activity and a healthier cafeteria diet. Preliminar…

Contributed by Andrea Bossenmeyer

Have you heard of Playreport? It's a new global research project on children and play. Ikea wants the world to play more so they sponsored and international survey of over 11,000 interviews in 25 countries.

The most notable discovery was that 9 out of 10 children would PREFER TO PLAY WITH PARENTS AND FRIENDS, rather than TV or Internet. The sad thing in the report was that parents reported they were too busy,…

Contributed by Andrea Bossenmeyer.

Have you heard? The Mayor Of Oklahoma City put his citizens on a diet? In order to bring attention to the issue of obesity, he created a website to help citizens of Oklahoma lose 1 million pounds together. The city is on the list of the Top Ten Obese Cities in America.

There are many initiatives such as helping push fast food's healthier options menu, working with "The Biggest Loser" as well as b…

by Andrea Bossenmeyer

Everyone blames major junk food companies for advertising to kids, and contributing to childhood obesity...So why then don't we see advertising for broccoli? Green beans? Apples?

This article gives us a brief glimpse into the possibilities...

"the primary takeaway is that companies that sell, say, a certain cereal or fast food can brand their products to give them a market advantage. A single broccoli grower has a lo…

by Andrea Bossenmeyer

Severn Cullis-Suzuki is my hero. My new found hero! I am so proud of her and her friends whom founded Environmental Children’s Organization (ECO) a non-profit at the age of 10. She also fundraised all the money to go speak first international Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992 at the age of 12.

This video has just now found it's way to me...but it's worth 5 min of silence. Hush and listen:


Now adults, go t…

by Andrea Bossenmeyer

Jamie Oliver also known as the Naked Chef has found purpose and meaning in his life above and beyond his chef skills. Mr. Oliver is campaigning for kids with a new project called the Food Revolution. He is working on bringing awareness about food back into the lives of every person. He has been filming a TV series in Virginia about food – how families eat, what kids get at school and why, the diet of processed food and snack…

The idea of a tax on soda seemed like a good one to many people. After all, the sugar in soda and the resulting increase in calorie consumption has been a concern to health advocates for some time.

Well. Put that on the back burner for now. According the the LA Times, "Employing a broad-based lobbying effort, the soft drink industry has smothered a plan to tax sugared beverages -- a plan advocates said would have reduced obesity and helped…

Common sense tells us that a communitiy that cannot sustain the physical health of its citizens places their long-term existence at serious risk.

Opinion- Valley Voices- Fresno, CA

Retired Physical Education teacher and advocate Joe Herzog's opinion in his local newspaper. Go Joe. You make us proud.

Children struggle to learn in school, work place performance suffers and as we've seen in recent years, the military rejects almost as many …

A new study in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine finds that the majority of the nation’s Head Start programs report doing more to support healthy eating and physical activity than is required by existing federal regulations. Head Start is the nation’s largest federally funded early childhood education program, serving one million low-income preschool students, 30 percent of whom are obese or overweight.

Study findings.

Perhaps its…

A new Northwestern University study suggests that American parents should ease up on antibacterial soap and perhaps allow their little ones a romp or two in the mud --- or at least a much better acquaintance with everyday germs.

The research suggests that inflammatory systems may need a higher level of exposure to common everyday bacteria and microbes to guide their development. "In other words, inflammatory networks may need the same type o…

Palm City Elementary PE teacher's program encourages kids to run for fitness and fun.

http://www.tcpalm.com/videos/detail/students-get-running-mileage-club

View the video of physical education teacher talking about motivating her students to run so that they will be successful at the mile run component in the state physical fitness test. The running club is not only motivating students to run more but also causing students to think about thei…

School-based physical education plays a key role in curbing obesity and improving fitness among adolescents from low-income communities, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and UC Berkeley. The study, which identifies opportunities for adolescents to improve their health based on routine daily activities, finds that regular participation in PE class is significantly associated with greater c…

Are you receiving the WOWS Newsletter from the Healthy Kids Challenge?
It is a great resource and full of ideas and tips for keeping kids healthy. Below is a sample of a item that was included in this week's Wednesday Wows Newsletter.

....Easy HEAR-SEE-DO action tips each week

HEAR .... Provide a message to increase awareness of knowledge/skills
SEE .... Show people HOW to make healthy changes
DO .... Help people practice and make healthy chang…