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A statewide study of public school students' physical fitness found the fittest students tended to perform better on state standardized tests. The Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning analyzed results of Fitnessgram tests taken by more than 25,000 students in 15 Louisiana school districts in the 2009-10 school year.

The national soft drink industry put another $4.2 million into the Initiative 1107 campaign last week, raising its ante to $14.4 million for the tax-rollback measure. I-1107 is aimed at rolling back temporary taxes on soda and bottled water and a permanent sales tax on candy. The American Beverage Association in Washington, D.C., has contributed all but $325 of I-1107’s money.

Students in 188 Illinois schools will get fresh fruits and vegetables to eat this school year. The Illinois State Board of Education said Wednesday the schools will participate in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. The federally funded program would provide fresh produce throughout the school day.

[N]obody has systematically looked at whether all the money, time and discussion devoted to childhood-obesity prevention and intervention is doing any good and what type of work seems to make the most difference. That's why the federal government has given Battelle and its collaborators $23 million - and as much as $29.7 million by the end of the five-year project - to study 300 U.S. communities. They'll take an in-depth look at 100 children in each of those communities and analyze efforts to improve their health.

A project to plant healthy eating habits in children and grow a healthy community is starting from the ground up at a local school and is expected to take root at more schools in the next few years. Elected officials, educators and representatives of nonprofit groups gathered Wednesday at Westview Early Childhood Education Center to unveil the city's first Growing Healthy Kids Garden.

It's no secret the country has an obesity problem. But Ohio is taking steps to change that, starting with children. Senate Bill 210, which goes into effect Sept. 17, is aimed at addressing a growing need. This law places tough restrictions on beverages in schools and vending machines from kindergarten to 12th grade, even banning the sale of some items…[and] requires better teaching of nutrition and physical activity benefits and requires schools to calculate the body mass index, or BMI, of its students.

Seems like everyone - from politicians to TV chefs - wants to make over school food programs. But even advocates concede that major changes can't happen overnight. When it comes to what’s going on in the school cafeteria, industry experts agree that turning this battleship will require commitment, money, and, perhaps more than anything, the will to make it happen.

More Santa Rosa County first-, third- and sixth-graders are slowly moving into the normal range for body mass index. Since 2007, the normal body mass index ranges for students in these grades have gone from 60 percent to 72 percent, showing a slight but steady increase, said Debbie Price, nursing program specialist with the Santa Rosa County Health Department.

Regulators' appetite for calorie counts is about to extend beyond restaurants to thousands of other places that offer food, including airplanes, movie theaters and convenience stores.

Steve Frabitore can't escape the challenge of getting kids to eat healthy. As a father of four boys, age 11 to 21, he's waged his fair share of food fights in his home kitchen, trying to make sure his clan grows up strong eating nutritional meals instead of their junk food cravings. He takes his battle plan to work with him, too. As a restaurateur, Frabitore is also concerned with making sure the pint-sized diners at his Tupelo Honey Café locations have nutritious and delicious meals.

Name a snack food that's neon orange and makes a loud crunch when munched. If you picked Cheetos, the nation's biggest producer of baby carrots wants you to think again.

Harold Wingood is out to turn a food desert into an oasis, build community gardening skills and save Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering six figures a year while doing it.

Local health officials plan to reach children with messages that will encourage them to develop early healthy eating and exercise habits. The South Wood County YMCA will begin a fitness and nutrition effort at local after-school programs this fall to combat childhood obesity.

In Idaho, five school districts have been selected by the Idaho State Department of Agriculture and Idaho State Department of Education to serve as pilot schools to implement Farm to School programs and help create best practices for other schools to follow who want to begin Farm to School efforts.

Children and youth across Connecticut have the opportunity to become “Health Heroes” by learning about childhood obesity, designing programs to address it and implementing the programs in their communities. UnitedHealth HEROES is a service-learning, health literacy initiative designed to encourage young people, working with educators and youth leaders, to create and implement local hands-on programs to fight childhood obesity.

King-Danforth, Jones, Bernd and Burdell-Hunt elementary schools in Macon are part of a new three-year health project the school system is launching. Students from those schools walked with the superintendent at various times Tuesday. The system hopes to teach students at these high-poverty schools about nutrition and fitness, train their parents to live healthier and allow teachers there to start wellness programs together.

For area residents, Foodlink's stand might be their only encounter with fresh produce all week. "It's close and it's reasonable. You can save a dollar here," said Calvin Moore, 56, a neighborhood resident. "And it's good vegetables and good fruit."

Many chain restaurants and vending machines would have to display the number of calories in their food for consumers under draft guidelines released Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration.

Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announces it will award $1 million in grants for eligible high-poverty schools to start community gardens.

Chocolate milk has emerged as both villain and victim in a cafeteria drama that pits the milk industry, administrators and parents against one another.