August 29, 2011, Jessical Pauline Oglivie, Los Angeles Times
Is severe childhood obesity a life-threatening form of abuse that justifies removing a child from his or her parents?
Doctors, lawyers and child welfare experts have grappled with this question in recent years, and the debate was renewed this summer by a high-profile commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. Dr. David Ludwig, director of the obesity program at Children’s Hospital Boston, and Lindsey Murtagh, a research associate at the Harvard School of Public Health, argued that when children are near …

Huffington Post, Maria Rodale, August 25, 2011
Our children’s health and our nation’s school food did not change for the worse overnight, but we can’t put the brakes on the damage it is doing fast enough. Read on for my Recipe for Success for school lunches.
A strong school-lunch program eliminates highly processed foods and puts a strong emphasis on fresh whole foods cooked from scratch. But, as you might imagine, choosing fresh, locally grown foods presents schools with all kinds of challenges. Unlike those of 20 or 30 years ago, most …

August 10, 2011, Yale University
Nutrition-related health claims on children’s cereals are often misinterpreted by parents, causing them to infer that products with health claims are more nutritious overall despite actual nutrient quality, finds a study from the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. The study, published in the journal Public Health Nutrition, shows that additional government regulation of front-of-package labeling is needed to protect consumers.
Through an online survey, researchers asked parents with children between the ages of 2 and 11 to view images of actual box …

August 12, 2011, The Jakarta Post
As many nutrition-deficiency illnesses starts during pregnancy and childhood, WHO officers said women were the key to preventing future malnourished generations.
Francesco Branca, the director of nutrition for health and development at the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO), said on Tuesday that many different nutritional challenges such as low birth weight, stunted growth and micro-nutrient deficiencies among children began during pregnancy and neonatal periods.
“We cannot solve nutrition problems in one night. If you want to prepare for the next generation, you have to act through young …

August 11, 2011, NBC, Scott Beaulieu
Finding healthy food for you kids can be hard enough, especially when they’re reaching for their favorite sugar-filled snacks.  But a new study from Yale researchers says the packaging on some foods isn’t making things any easier.
The university’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity found that parents often misinterpret health claims on children’s cereals, assuming they are more nutritious than they actually are.  For example, many products use words like “whole grain,” “organic,” “supports your child’s immunity.”
In their study, the Yale researchers surveyed parents …

August 10, 2011, Boston Globe, Deborah Kotz
The seven-year-old policy restricting the sale of sugar-sweetened beverages in Boston Public Schools appears to be paying off: Consumption dropped among high school students from 1.7 servings a day on average in 2004 to 1.4 servings a day in 2006, according to a new study by Harvard researchers.
They calculated that this 3.8 ounce decline in sugary beverages added up to a drop in calorie consumption of about 45 calories per day. While the researchers did not track changes in the students’ body mass index, …

August 9, 2011, Health Day
As parents prepare to send their children back to school, they need to remember that nutrition is an important factor in academic performance, an expert advises.
Studies have shown that children who eat healthy, balanced breakfasts and lunches are more alert throughout the school day and also earn higher marks than those who have an unhealthy diet, says Mary Pat Alfaro, clinical manager of the division of nutrition therapy at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, in a center news release.
A healthy breakfast includes a variety of foods …

August 9, 2011, Reuters, Amy Norton
Children are seeing fewer sugary, fatty foods advertised on TV, but unhealthy fare still makes up the bulk of food commercials they see, a new study suggests.
What’s more, researchers found, children were actually seeing more fast-food commercials in 2009 compared with six years earlier.
The study, reported in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, was aimed at gauging the effects of a voluntary food industry program called the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI).
The initiative began in 2006, in response to calls from the …

August 8, 2011, Huffington Post, Christina Pirello
Progress is progress, and while I will congratulate any company on its efforts to make healthier food options available to mainstream consumers, I think we need to hold onto our party hats before celebrating the Happy Meal makeover.
As reported on CNN.com the Happy Meal will now include apple slices, a reduced portion of fries, a choice of fat-free chocolate milk, 1 percent low fat white milk, fruit juice or water along with the usual choice of hamburger, cheeseburger or chicken nuggets (oy).
A corporate statement …

August 2, 2011, HarrisonPatch, Jaclyn Bruntfield
Last week, McDonald’s USA said the company was taking steps to make its menu options healthier, particularly for kids.
On its face, this seems to be good news in many ways. Parents, policy groups and even the federal government are pressuring companies to re-assess their tactics when it comes to marketing to children. And the companies seem to be responding.
McDonald’s got the most press after the announcement for its planned addition of apples to Happy Meals while also decreasing portion sizes for french fries.
According to nutritional …