By Andrea Bossenmeyer



Recently I watched the movie “Food Inc.” which is a movie about food production in the United States and its impact on our health. I was enlightened to learn about how the meat industry feeds our animals. According to the movie, the way the meat industry feeds cattle has a direct effect on our health.

Today, let’s just talk about beef. Cattle naturally graze on grass. However, that is not what most of the cattle farms are fe…

A quick update from last week's blog in case you have not been following the soda tax controversy. In the past year, Capitol Hill and even the President have said that taxing sugary soft drinks may be a good way to reduce consumption and create a $50B revenue stream for the federal government over the next decade.

The legislation didn't for forward in Congress but CA legislators are looking at their own version of a soda tax.

California…

The poster is part of First Lady Michelle Obama's campaign against childhood obesity entitled, "Let's Move."

For a short video and components of the Let's Move Initiative visit the website.

Two recent studies emphasize the importance of fitness for brain health.

In one of the studies, published earlier this month in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, 8,800 people who were 25 and older were followed for six and a half years. The study found that each hour of television they watched daily was associated with an 18 percent increase in deaths from heart disease and an 11 percent increase in mortality rates overal…

Picture Wikipedia

First Lady Michelle Obama announced that next week she will be releasing her action plan to tackle the childhood obesity crisis. With 17% of school children obese and one third overweight a national agenda spearheaded by the First Lady may be just what the doctor ordered.

At a press conference she made her intent known. She plans on crafting specific solutions to the childhood obesity crisis. "She wants to get families, sc…

Fiskars garden tools and materials such as plants, seeds, mulch, etc. to eligible gardening groups. Maximum award: $1,000 in implements and materials. Eligibility: gardens and/or gardening projects geared toward community involvement, neighborhood beautification, horticultural education, and/or sustainable agriculture.

Deadline: February 19, 2010.
http://www.fiskars.com/content/garden_en_us/Garden/ProjectOrangeThumb/grantprogram

Photo credit: Thomas Reis Edutopia Magazine

A federal panel of health experts has issued new recommendations encouraging U.S. doctors to screen children aged 6 and older for obesity, and to offer them a referral to intensive weight management programs when necessary.

Read more......]

The new recommendations was published in the February issue of Pediatrics, and are available online now at the Pediatrics Web site.

For more on the topic of childhood …

If you are writing grants and need health and fitness statistics then check out the Play Think blog by J.R. Atwood. His post on Data Mining: We've got your numbers cites two such data banks.

playthink

Exercising the mind and the body-J.R. Atwood

* Kidsdata.org offers a tremendous amount of data from all counties, cities, and school districts in California related to the health and well-being of children. Bonus: all information on the site…

This posting is from a new blog I've discovered called Fooducate Blog. It has interesting information for those interested in nutrition.

The consumer watchdog group CSPI published [PDF] a provocative list of 10 healthy foods that have been involved in large scale contamination in the past few years:

1. LEAFY GREENS: 363 outbreaks involving 13,568 reported cases of illness
2. EGGS: 352 outbreaks , 11,163 illness
3. TUNA: 268 outbreaks ,…

The Governor of NJ kicked off a statewide Nutrition and fitness challenge with students on Friday. The statewide fitness challenge to kids, their parents and school leadership across New Jersey today, urges them to take steps toward better children’s health by exercising more and making healthy food choices. The Governor’s Nutrition and Fitness Challenge invites kids between the ages of six and 17 to register at www.nj.gov/health/fitnesschalleng…

The Coca-Cola Company and the Coca-Cola Foundation aim to make a greater impact on the communities Coca-Cola serves around the world by being responsive to the citizenship priorities of the communities in which we live and work. The Coca-Cola Company and Foundation are interested in funding organizations in these areas: Water stewardship, Healthy active lifestyles, Community recycling, and Education.
Award amount varies. Eligible applicants mus…

You've hear the saying, "like mother like daughter" or "father like son" but that may not be the case when it comes to eating behaviors. A study released on parent-child dietary intake found variances in eating habits both in food groups and nutrients. The study was conducted by Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Center for Human Nutrition, Department of International Health.

The National Association of State School Boards released a policy guide on Preventing Childhood Obesity.

Schools have many powerful tools at their disposal to serve as one of the primary agents to address the obesity crisis. Schools access to children is unique as children spend a significant amount of their day in school. The ability to educate and reinforce healthy behaviors provides the opportunity for schools to effect the community at larg…

Did you receive your copy of the March Peaceful Playgrounds Grants Newsletter?

Topics covered include:
Tiger Woods Foundation Grants for Youth

Active Living and Health Eating Grant

Mailman Family Early Learning Grants.


Shade Structure Grants.

Walmart State Giving Grant for Health and Wellness.

If you need to replenish your equipment or products don't miss out on our annual Year End Sale going on now.

Today I'm going to point you to one of my favorite educational magazines and websites called, Edutopia.org They cover all aspects of education but for my readers I'm bringing to your attention their content about health and fitness. Enjoy.

* Fighting for Fitness: Educational Institutions Step into the Ring
* Sage Advice: The Challenge of Childhood Obesity
* Fit for Life: A Coach's Pep Talk
* The New PE Curriculum: An In…

CFF School Garden Grant Program
This program administered by the California Fertilizer Foundation (CFF) offers a $1,200 unrestricted grant, a $50 gift card to Home Depot, and age-appropriate educational materials to California schools for gardening projects. At the end of each year, winning schools can re-apply for a progress grant of $1,500 and a free agricultural field trip.
http://www.calfertilizer.org/grant.htm
Deadline Date:
06/15/2008

Capta…

This article was copied in its entirety because it gives such a great perspective...
post submitted by Andrea Bossenmeyer

Of all the challenges to reversing our national obesity epidemic, the one that concerns me most is what I call the "distortion of normality." While constants in science (physical values or principles) are well known and don't change, life has far fewer "constants."

The constants we tend to adhere to most …

The increased cost of fuel is affecting the costs of everything. Many school districts are having to cut items from the menu because they don't fit into the budget any longer!

One school district in Bainbridge, Washington is trying to pass a bill that allows the school districts to favor contracts from local farmers to get local foods on lunchrooms menus. Groups of parents hope the measure will rejuvenate interest in adding nutritious, natu…

This article has been adapted from The Herald News
"Snack on this:Healthy alternatives for kids to munch on"
By Gina Lombardi

A very important distinction in food is between a treat and a snack...

Foods like cookies, ice cream, candy, and chips often come to mind when we think of snacks, however they are very clearly treats, because these types of foods are generally loaded with sugar and/or fat, contain lots of calories and very little n…

A University of Miami study designed to prevent childhood obesity in preschoolers is showing promising results. According to Dr. Sarah Messiah, “We wanted to keep normal weight children normal weight so it's really a prevention intervention."

Researchers developed the program to teach inner city kids about healthy foods and why they need to eat them. A new report shows it’s working. Kids in the program stopped eating chips almost enti…