News

Indianapolis [now] has a produce truck that will sell locally grown fruits and vegetables… Most of the stops are in "food deserts" – neighborhoods where there are plenty of convenience stores and fast-food joints but no full-service grocery stores and limited access to mass transit.

School funding cuts and a focus on academics over physical fitness has emptied playgrounds and stalled physical education programs across the country, causing the childhood obesity rate to skyrocket. That prompted Phillip Newman, wellness director at the Bob Sierra YMCA Youth & Family Center, to brainstorm a solution. His idea came to fruition last August, when Newman started the Fit Start program at the YMCA. The program allows kids and teenagers to participate in physical activity through activities such as obstacle courses, spinning, zumba classes and boot-camp style training.

Want kids to eat their vegetables? Try pictures, not words. Using a Richfield elementary school as their lab, researchers from the University of Minnesota placed images of green beans and carrots on the cafeteria food trays for one day. More kids took vegetables, and more kids ate them, according to a study published online Wednesday.

[Richmond mayor Dwight C.] Jones said Wednesday that he is launching the RVA Shoppers' Shuttle as a six-month pilot program to help people in so-called "food deserts" reach the oasis with transportation to local grocery stores. The pilot program… will initially provide a twice-monthly shuttle service to residents of Fay Tower, a public apartment complex for the elderly, and the public-housing complexes of Hillside, Creighton, Fairfield, Mosby and Whitcomb courts.

Each month, the Farm to School program helps connect local farmers and school food service staff to bring a new Harvest of the Month product into Wood County schools. The program highlights a single, locally grown fruit or vegetable to taste test. Students, teachers and parents also receive educational materials about that item.

Thirty-five percent of Hamilton County high school students spend at least five hours a day watching television, playing video games and scouring the Internet, according to new survey results… Nearly 20 percent of students said they hadn't exercised in the seven days before they took the survey, and 18 percent drink three or more "sugar-sweetened soft drinks" every day.

First lady Michelle Obama [will visit] the site of a future Northgate Gonzalez Market in Inglewood on Wednesday to showcase efforts being made to draw grocers to low-income neighborhoods. Obama, who is on the second day of her two-day visit to the Los Angeles area, is making the stop as part of her "Let's Move!" campaign to boost healthy food and fitness. Part of the campaign includes promoting initiatives such as the new $264 million California FreshWorks Fund, which finances grocery businesses in areas underserved by traditional supermarkets.

For budget cutting purposes, removing two full-time physical education teachers from the staff would save the school district approximately $140,000 next year, according to a front-page article in this newspaper by reporter Paul Schott last Friday. This is pennywise and pound foolish (no pun intended). As one physical education teacher, Joyce Evans of Coleytown Elementary School, put it at the meeting: "Physical education is a necessity, not a luxury, for the health and well-being of the whole child. It is an integral part of the educational process."

All students at Agua Caliente Elementary School received pedometers Monday to kick off the school’s monthlong walking program. Every Friday in February, students who record the highest number of steps on their pedometer will be given prizes.

Developers in the last half-century called it progress when they built homes and shopping malls far from city centers throughout the country, sounding the death knell for many downtowns. But now an alarmed cadre of public health experts say these expanded metropolitan areas have had a far more serious impact on the people who live there by creating vehicle-dependent environments that foster obesity, poor health, social isolation, excessive stress and depression. As a result, these experts say, our “built environment” — where we live, work, play and shop — has become a leading cause of disability and death in the 21st century.

Editor’s Note: The upcoming “Designing Healthy Communities” public television series described in this article is partially funded by RWJF.

Developers in the last half-century called it progress when they built homes and shopping malls far from city centers throughout the country, sounding the death knell for many downtowns. But now an alarmed cadre of public health experts say these expanded metropolitan areas have had a far more serious impact on the people who live there by creating vehicle-dependent environments that foster obesity, poor health, social isolation, excessive stress and depression. As a result, these experts say, our “built environment” — where we live, work, play and shop — has become a leading cause of disability and death in the 21st century.

Editor’s Note: The upcoming “Designing Healthy Communities” public television series described in this article is partially funded by RWJF.

About 78,000 people in the Miami Valley live in poorer areas that lack markets that sell affordable and nutritious food, and low-income residents and those without post-secondary educations have some of the highest obesity rates in the state.

During his first year in office, [Governor Rick] Snyder has become a spokesperson reminding residents everyone has a responsibility to help Michigan fight its high rate of obesity. In addition to his Obesity Summit and his introduction of Pure Michigan Fit, he has taken a pledge to eat more nutritious foods, and exercise. While I applaud the efforts of his first year, he can and must do more. Gov. Snyder needs to expand Pure Michigan Fit to include comprehensive wellness programs for every K-12 student.

The picture of hunger in the America is changing. In the past, hunger may have conjured up images of gaunt faces or rail-thin children. Today, some people who struggle to feed their families are actually obese. It's a paradox that researchers are trying to untangle: how can people be both hungry and overweight?

Editor’s Note: Mary Story, interviewed for this piece, is the director of Healthy Eating Research, an RWJF national program.

The lack of a supermarket near the four-mile stretch of the Seacrest Boulevard corridor has long been a problem, said Vivian Brooks, executive director for Boynton Beach's Community Redevelopment Agency. Major grocery chains like Publix and Winn-Dixie build in densely populated areas. But the area identified as a food desert in Boynton Beach only has about 10,000 residents, which is not enough to attract them.

Instead of using cartoon-size scissors, dozens of enthusiastic students broke through a ceremonial ribbon in full stride Thursday to mark the grand opening of the new fitness center at Charter School for Applied Technologies in the Town of Tonawanda… The 8,700-square-foot expansion of the elementary school gym means that all students in kindergarten through eighth grade receive four, 45-minute periods of physical education and one period of health-based classroom instruction weekly.

A new community group will help residents of Lemon Grove lighten up and improve their bottom lines. The San Diego-based nonprofit group Community Health Improvement Partners has received a $1 million grant from Kaiser Permanente to fight obesity in Lemon Grove through eating better and living more active lifestyles.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s long-awaited rules to revamp school meals were announced Wednesday, the first major change to school meals in 15 years… The proposed rules were announced a year ago in December. Since then many schools, realizing change was coming, began preparations, working with vendors and finding new recipes. As a result, many Kansas City-area schools say they’ll be ready when the rules go into effect July 1.

Hoping to combat the growing problem of childhood obesity, the Obama administration on Wednesday announced its long-awaited changes to government-subsidized school meals, a final round of rules that adds more fruits and green vegetables to breakfasts and lunches and reduces the amount of salt and fat.

Los Angeles County supervisors approved an ordinance Tuesday that requires new developments to have wider sidewalks, bicycle parking and other changes to promote exercise and reduce obesity. The ordinance also would make it easier for communities to start community gardens and hold farmers markets.

Schoolchildren's favorite lunch — the ubiquitous frozen pizza — is about to get healthier. First lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack are expected to announce Wednesday that most school meals, including pizza, will have less sodium, more whole grains and more fruits and vegetables as sides. The popular pizzas will still be on school lunch lines but made with healthier ingredients.