STOP ZOMBIE MOUTH!!!

The toothbrush goes IN your mouth, Mr. Zombie.

Halloween is this Wednesday (can you believe it? Where has October gone to?!?) and if you participate in trick or treating or any gaming, you are going to want to read this!

One of my favorite online games, Plants vs Zombies, is pairing up with The American Dental Association to give away free games INSTEAD of teeth rotting candy.

With the children's obesity epidemic on the rise, wouldn't it be nice to give something fun and calorie free?  Pop Cap, makers of the game, are allowing you to download as many coupons as you wish to pass out to all the ghouls and boos out there.  The game is normally $20, so you would be the coolest house on the block.  And the game is super awesome- I happen to have it on my iPhone, my lap top, and for the XBox 360.  It's kind of a big deal.

For further incentive, watch this clever little music video.  And Happy Halloween!

Muppets Take on Pizza as a Vegetable

Hilarious.

Cereal Box Makeovers

Artist Ron English changed some of cereal's most famous faces to what they might look like if they actually ate the contents of their own boxes.  He then put the boxes onto supermarket shelves at a Ralph's in Venice, California.

It is said if you find one of the boxes, you can mail it to the artist and he will sign it for you.

I like Sugar Diabetic Bear.

Letter to McDonald's: STOP MARKETING JUNK FOOD TO KIDS

 In the MetroNY paper today, I saw a huge one page ad:  An open letter to the CEO of McDonald's from Corporate Accountability International.  Apparently, McDonald's has it's annual shareholders meeting tomorrow where they make big announcements and changes.  Over 550 health professionals and institutions in all 50 states have signed the letter, begging McDonald's to be more responsible in it's marketing fast food items to children.

I don't want Ronald McDonald to lose his job, but I am all for this initiative.

Want to sign the letter?  Follow this link: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2215/t/8952/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=618

Fight Childhood Obesity! Take the Pledge Today!

One of my favorite reality television shows, Too Fat for 15, is back for it's second season on the Style Network.  I love this show and the positive message that it sends about kids trying to overcome obesity at a boarding school in North Carolina. 

You can help them fight with just a click of your mouse!  Go to www.mystyle.com/toofatfor15 , click on the "commit!" link, and show your support via twitter or facebook.  For every click, the Style Network will donate $1!

Food Revolution: 1 McDonald's: 0



We are coming for you, fries.  Be afraid.  Be very afraid.



I have been tracking the Happy Meal "saga" in San Francisco-- long story short, San Francisco wanted to ban any unhealthy meal targeted to children by offering toys or prizes and yesterday they voted 8-3 to ban the McDonald's Happy Meal. 

YES.  I am hoping this encourages McDonald's to lower sodium and fat content across the board, not just in children's foods, and I am hoping this trend spreads throughout the country if McDonald's doesn't comply.  Although McDonald's does offer healthier options with the Happy Meal, like apple slices and milk, the number one choice is still fries and a soda.  Visit any McDonald's and you will see childhood obesity in full affect.

My hope is this story will shed some light for parents who thought that a Happy Meal was a good choice.  By teaching parents and their children about what is good to put in your body and what is not good for your body, we can start to turn the obesity epidemic around.

It is a victory for the Food Revolution.  It is a victory for kids and for their parents!

Monday Melee: Weighing in on kid's issues

Which means to say I am not only weighing in on kid's issues but also issues involving parents, teachers, and the general public.

This past week I saw three different topics I wanted to cover:  New York City taking sugary drinks and candy off the approved list for food stamps, gardening as a "snooty" sport, and healthy snacks shouldn't be offered for Halloween.

Topic One:  The Food Stamp Ban on Sugary Drinks and Candy
My first job was at a grocery store in Oklahoma City.  I worked in the bakery first (Lord, the temptations of freshly glazed donuts!) and then transitioned to working as a check out girl.  This was the first time in my life that I saw a food stamp being used.  What always surprised me was the type of foods that were bought on food stamps:  Fruit punch, chicken thighs, American Cheese.  The users typically bought junk items with the food stamps and bought "real foods" with cash.  As a high schooler I thought this was odd, and I still think this is odd, because junk food was always a luxury type product in my household.  We didn't get sodas except for school field trips or for slumber parties-- soda was not apart of our daily diet.  Just like McDonald's was a once a month treat, not a daily necessity because it was cheap.

Both of my parents worked, my mom sometimes working two jobs, to provide my sister and brother and I a middle class lifestyle.  My mom was innovative in her eating habits:  Skim milk, whole wheat breads, home cooked meals with salads and fish.  Part of my after school chores was helping to get dinner ready by prepping veggies, getting all the necessary components set up and what not so my mom could put it all together when she got home from work.  I can't even imagine my mom going through a drive through and getting us dinner.  Because we didn't have a ton of money we didn't spend unnecessarily on sodas, candy, or cookies.

I am in FULL SUPPORT of New York City deciding to eliminate sugary sodas and candy off of the food stamp list.  They aren't required for normal living.  They are treats that should be purchased with your own cash if you want them.  I also like the incentive programs that make the food stamp "bucks" go further by making fresh produce cost less per dollar and allowing food stamps to be used in Farmer's Markets.  I don't think this is punishing lower income families because the facts are that these groups have higher rates of obesity, diabetes, etc. because of poor food choices.  It has be a combo of education and tough love to help rehabilitate these families to make wiser and healthier decisions, and I am glad that NY is in the forefront of this movement.

Topic Two:  Teaching Children to Garden is a Yuppie Dream
When I found this article on Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, I was really surprised.  The author, Adam Ozimek, writes that gardening is not a reasonable or realistic way of teaching children how to make proper food choices.  We should be teaching them about the merits of frozen veg instead because that is what more blue collar people can afford.

WHAT?  After watching Food Revolution, I feel gardening at it's most basic is helpful in teaching children where those frozen veg actually come from.  Seeing those little kids not knowing what a potato or a tomato was was heartbreaking!  And saying that gardening is for the upper class is hilarious.  How many rich folks do you know grow all their own produce?  Last time I checked, farmers were also considered blue collar folks.  Hmm.

Ozimek's article also says that organic produce has no more nutritional value than it's conventionally grown counterparts.  DUH.  An organic apple and a conventional apple are still APPLES.  It's the care of the soil, the types of pesticides, the support of local farmers:  That is what sets organic produce apart from conventional produce.  Buying organic is a great choice if you can make it, but if you are buying apples at the end of the day, isn't that a better option than no apples at all?

Topic Three:  No Healthy Options for Halloween?
I am not saying I want you to buy raisins for the neighborhood kiddies this Halloween.  I personally hate raisins.  I'm also not saying you should give out razor blade filled apples.  I read this "blog" post-- maybe it's a blog or a really personality filled article posed as fact?-- that you should allow kids to go hog wild on Halloween and get real candy.  This was written by a mom whose children don't drink soda and don't know what Pop Tarts are, but she is completely cool with them eating a pillow case full of candy.  Heck, maybe all that sugar will get them sick and they'll realize that candy is not all that great for you.

I just disagree with allowing kids to eat as much candy as they like just because it is Halloween.  I was told I could eat a certain amount and then the rest was put away by my mom.  I think if the people that passed out candy chose some healthier options like pretzels or healthier candies, it wouldn't be such a bad idea, either.  Although I congratulate this mom on her practices the other 364 days a year, I don't think she should give up the fight just because it is Halloween.  Seems irresponsible somehow.

And that's my two cents for today.  Any thoughts?

NY Kids are Fat, Too

I think I am pretty special sometimes because I live in New York City. It is always on TV and movies, a center for culture and excitement, and a great vacation destination for my friends and family. Let's just say not as many people are clamoring for the dream vacation in Oklahoma City (which is very lovely) that I have tried to offer.

I was surprised to see that out of every 10 kids in NY 4 of them are overweight. WHAT? With all the walking and parks and farmer's markets, you'd think that NY kids would be thin as rails. Apparently the overweight epidemic isn't just for the Midwest. It is truly nationwide and it is ridiculous for us (mostly me) to assume that we would be healthy just because we walk everywhere. In fact, NY kids are actually a little fatter.

After I read this report on Medical News Today and this one on CBS New York, I started to look at the little kids in my neighborhood. I saw some chubby bellies, and it wasn't baby fat. I saw a huge line at my neighborhood McDonald's with plenty of kids inside. It made me sad.

I know that parents are struggling financially and that unhealthy foods are cheaper and fill their kid's tummies just as well as more expensive fair. I hate to say it, but the results of the studies were broken into socioeconomic categories: Poorer families have heavier kids. Families living in Corona Park, Queens (a large Latin community) had the heaviest kids, as well as Harlem and Washington Heights (another Latin community).

These families work longer hours for less pay. Their kids don't get to run around and play as much because the neighborhoods are not as safe. I wanted you to know that I am not making a sweeping generalization about these NY neighborhoods-- I checked out this crime map to see what kind of environment these children are growing up in. The richest neighborhoods have the most burglars and robbers and the poorer neighborhoods have the most shootings and assaults. Why go out and play when there is so much danger outside and video games inside?

Hopefully this means that schools will invest in more play and exercise programs. While we are waiting for that to happen, if ever, if you live around a Whole Foods Market they are sponsoring salad bars to be put into schools that are around their locations. If you shop there you can donate $1 or $5 when you check out until the end of September. Another brick in the wall of the Food Revolution! I hope Jamie Oliver would be proud.

Do you have any ideas on keeping kids fit and improving health education? Write 'em down below.

Yet another reason not to purchase Happy Meals

If you read my blog regularly you know that I am not a big fan of fast food for children or marketing unhealthy items for kids to consume. The new Happy Meal campaign to donate a portion of Happy Meal purchases to the Ronald McDonald House? So unfair! Fun toys with a fat laden lunch? BOO.

If you don't believe me, believe artist Sally Davies who photographed a traditional Happy Meal hamburger and fries over 137 days. Like Cher, these foods DO NOT AGE.

Way Back Wednesday

This PSA is about kids not resorting to food for comfort when they are hurt or upset. More importantly, it tells parents not to give food to their children but instead give them a hug.

The rate of childhood obesity in the 1980's compared to now? According to the CDC:

"Among preschool children aged 2–5, obesity increased from 5.0% to 10.4% between 1976–1980 and 2007–2008 and from 6.5% to 19.6% among those aged 6–11. Among adolescents aged 12–19, obesity increased from 5.0% to 18.1% during the same period. "

I think they need to start airing these PSA's again! I loved them when I was a kid. I am pretty sure they are the reason I didn't start smoking crack and why I love wagon wheels.

Not to kick the fat kids while they are down. . .

. . .but being obese isn't just bad for the old self esteem and your health. According to Dr. Antonio Convit, obese children also do poorly in school.

I discovered after reading this article on the HuffingtonPost.com that Convit, while researching the affects of insulin dependence in children and adults who are type 2 diabetic, found that children who were overweight didn't do as well on mental tests.

"Their results show that the adolescents with type 2 diabetes did more poorly across the board on mental performance tests. In addition, these same youth showed smaller brain volume for the entire brain and the frontal lobes, where much of our reasoning occurs. The frontal lobes are the last part of the brain to mature, making it is highly sensitive to change during adolescence. The abnormal findings Dr. Convit found occur more in obese diabetic youth than in (matched) youth who also were obese but did not have diabetes (or pre-diabetes -- in which the body has developed insulin resistance). "

Not surprisingly, fitter children did better across the board.

What I liked the most about this article was the solutions to this problem:

"The City Health and Mental Hygiene Department recommended, as a result, that parents, schools and health care providers need to help children be fit by engaging in daily physical activity. In addition, the report stressed healthy eating habits, including healthy meals at home, and "...don't let your children drink their calories" referring to the way that high calorie, sugary beverages cause weight gain in youth."

You can't tell me that the soda tax wouldn't help with this! Also, removing sodas and sugary milks from schools, healthy food choices, and allowing kids to stop sitting on the couch and get out and MOVING will not only save our future children from a lifetime of health problems, but will make our nation a smarter one too.

If you are a parent or know someone who is and is having issues with an obese child, forward them this article. Knowing that they can help their child have an easier time in school (not just socially) may be just the impetus they need to steer them on the right track.