NYC.gov, January 9, 2012
Health Department Launches New Ad Campaign Spotlighting Increasing Portion Sizes and Their Devastating Consequences
New York City subway posters encourage New Yorkers to cut their portions to reduce their risk of health problems
The Health Department today launched a new hard-hitting ad campaign urging New Yorkers to be more aware of portion sizes – and how they have increased – when choosing what to eat or drink. The quantity of food served in a “medium” or “large” order is significantly greater today than in previous years.
In the last 50 …

January 4, 2012, Fox News, Chris Kilham
Americans are living longer than ever before. As a result of greatly improved sanitation, hygiene, nutrition, life-saving drugs and medical care, lifespan has increased significantly.
At the time of the American Revolution in 1776, the average life expectancy in the United States was a paltry 30 years of age. Back then, you had to make your mark early, because your stay in this world was likely to be brief.
Today, the average American life expectancy is close to 80, and the fastest growing segment of the …

December 29, 2011, Fox News
Older people with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins B, C, D, and E in their blood do better on cognitive tests than those with lower levels, according to a new study.
On the other hand, trans fats were found to hurt cognition.
Together, the omega-3s, vitamins, and trans fat levels, as measured by a recently developed blood test, accounted for over 70 percent of the variation in the scores of cognitive tests taken by the study subjects, the researchers reported.
“This is a study where we …

December 21, 2011, Jeremy Laurance, The Independent
The tobacco industry is accused today of misleading smokers over the safety of additives in cigarettes.

Based on a new analysis of data used by the US cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris a decade ago, which found the additives were safe, University of California researchers claim the firm’s research “obscured findings of toxicity”.
The original study by Philip Morris, called Project Mix, resulted in the publication of four papers in a scientific journal that concluded there was “no evidence of substantial toxicity” associated with the additives studied.
More …

December 15, 2011, Huffington Post
When the USDA revised its official dietary guidelines for optimum health in June, nutrition experts generally agreed that MyPlate was better than the Food Pyramid that preceded it. Some, includingMarion Nestle and researchers from Harvard, had quibbles with MyPlates’ exact specifications — some said that meat and dairy were over-emphasized — few said that following the guidelines, especially on fruit and vegetable consumption, would be a bad thing.
But even if it’s healthy, it doesn’t look easy. The recommendations call for Americans to eat around three cups of vegetables and …

December 14, 2011, Brittni Johnson, Winter Park/Maitland observer
For Marva Forbes and her family, dinner was coming home, hot oil in a pan and frying up some chicken.
“As a rule,” she said.
There was also lots of pizza, McDonald’s and chips and candy for snacks. Not much thought went behind planning meals for her family, which includes three of her children and two grandchildren.
“Our eating habits were: we just ate,” Forbes said.
That is until four years ago, when her 6-year-old grandson started going to Winter Park Day Nursery. The nursery, which offers free …

December 8, 2011, San Francisco Chronicle, Erin Allday
Santa Clara County’s ban on fast-food toys for kids has had no effect on the nutritional quality of the meals served there, but the restaurants are doing a better job of promoting the right food, or at least not promoting the junk, Stanford researchers say.
In a report published today, Stanford scientists found that Santa Clara County fast-food restaurants – unlike some of their peers in San Francisco, where restaurants got around a similar ban by charging a dime for toys – seem to …

December 2, 2011, Shreveport Times
Rachel Boogaerts is dispensing a dose of nutrition advice disguised as play to youngsters in Shreveport.
A graduate student at Louisiana Tech University, Boogaerts plans to become a dietitian. She developed a game based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate meal guidelines with help from Deborah Harris, director of the Caddo Parish school system’s child nutrition program. She tested the activity with members of the Physical Activity and Wellness Club at Fairfield Elementary Magnet School in Shreveport.
Teams of Fairfield students raced to build the healthiest plate, …

CNN Madison Park, November 30, 2011
Goodbye, free plastic toys inside Happy Meals — at least in one major California city.
A new San Francisco law goes into effect on Thursday that prevents fast-food restaurants from giving away trinkets, action figures and other toys in their kid’s meals unless their food meets nutritional requirements.
And McDonald’s kid’s meals do not. The meals have to be less than 600 calories and contain fruits (a half-cup) and vegetables (3/4 of a cup). They must have less than 35% of the total calories coming from fat, …

EurekaAlert, November 28, 2011
Large disparities exist in obesity and other chronic diseases across racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Are racial differences in diet, exercise, and weight status related to better knowledge about healthy eating and awareness of food-related health risks? Or are they more closely related to differences in socioeconomic status (SES)? A new study published in the December issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association finds that people with a lower socioeconomic status are more likely to be overweight, regardless of racial/ethnic background, and that the …