The Washington Post, Josh Tapper, August 10, 2010
A resident of the Rainbow Retirement Community in Great Falls, Mont., for 30 years, Breuning swears by a simple regimen: exercise, eat (but only two meals per day, plus one baby aspirin), work, repeat.
Of course, at 113, Breuning doesn’t work much these days. He performs light, upper-body calisthenics for 10 minutes each morning, listens to radio news (his deteriorating eyesight prevents him from reading), entertains a continuous stream of visitors and retires by 8 p.m. Despite some wear and tear, Breuning, who uses …
The Washington Post, Jane Black, August 5, 2010
The Senate passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act on Thursday, a bill that provides an additional $4.5 billion over 10 years to federal child nutrition programs including school lunch. If signed into law, it will be the first time that the federal government has increased funding for the programs in 30 years.
The bill was bipartisan and fully paid for. But advocates, led by Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), had battled to find time for a vote in an intensely busy legislative period. On Monday, Michelle …
San Fransisco Chronicle, Rachel Gordon, August 11, 2010
Toys that have been synonymous with kids’ meals at fast-food restaurants could soon be banned in San Francisco under a new law proposed Tuesday if the food contains too much fat, sugar or salt.
Earlier this year, Santa Clara County became the first local government in the nation to adopt such a law, but it only applies to unincorporated areas and affects a handful of restaurants.
San Francisco’s proposal could have a far greater impact. The restrictions would pertain to all restaurants but effectively would target the dozens of …
Bloomberg News, Pat Wechsler, August 3, 2010
The U.S. is losing the battle of the bulge, and Mississippi is the state reporting the largest percentage of fat people.
The number of states with an adult obesity rate of 30 percent or more has tripled, to nine, since 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report today. Mississippi had the highest rate, 34 percent. About 75 million Americans are considered obese, the Atlanta-based CDC said.
Being fat is costing Americans as much as $150 billion a year from ills such …
The Boston Globe, Syney Lupkin, July 31, 2010
Governor Deval Patrick signed a bill yesterday that will change the way Massachusetts public school students eat, by banning the use of fryolators and requiring the sale of fresh fruits and non-fried vegetables wherever food is sold.
The bill aims to curb childhood obesity by calling on the state Department of Public Health to establish statewide school nutrition standards for foods sold in vending machines and at other locations on school property. It also requires several state agencies to establish guidelines for training …