Junk Food Bans Help Schoolkids Avoid Unhealthy Snacks: Study

But most elementary schools are in districts or states that don't limit sales of fat, sugar, salt to students

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, June 10 (HealthDay News) -- Elementary schools are less likely to sell unhealthy snack foods and drinks if school districts or states have rules that limit the sale of such products, a new study finds.

However, more than three-quarters of public elementary schools in the United States are located in a state or school district that does not limit the sale of items such as sugary drinks, salty snacks, candy or high-fat milk, according to the research published June 10 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

For the study, researchers examined the types of foods and drinks offered by schools nationwide between 2008-2009 and 2010-2011. Candy, ice cream, cookies and other sweets were sold by about 32 percent of schools in areas where both school district or state policies limited the sugar content of snack foods, compared with 43 percent of schools where there were no such policies.

Ice cream was sold by just over 10 percent of schools in areas where the state and school district limited the fat content of snack foods, compared with about 21 percent of schools where there was no such policy. Cookies, cakes and other high-fat baked goods were sold by nearly 12 percent of schools in areas with such a policy and by about 25 percent of schools in areas with no such policy, the investigators found.

In the case of sugary drinks, school district policies had more impact than state laws: Sugar-sweetened beverages were sold by close to 4 percent of schools when school districts banned them, compared with 13 percent of schools when there was no school district ban.

However, the sale of sugary beverages by schools was not affected by state bans -- especially in the South -- where sugary drinks were sold by one-quarter of schools in states that banned the sale of the drinks in schools.

The study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through its national research program, Bridging the Gap.

"We found that states and districts can influence the types of snacks and drinks sold at school," study lead author Jamie Chriqui, an investigator at Bridging the Gap, said in a foundation news release. "These policies can go a long way in helping kids have healthy choices during the school day, but more states and districts need to get strong policies on the books to have a meaningful impact nationally."

However, Chriqui and colleagues found that many states and school districts do not have specific nutritional rules for school snacks and drinks. Among U.S. elementary schools:

78 percent were in a district and state that did not limit the sodium (salt) content of snacks or ban high-fat milk.77 percent were in a district and state that allowed the sale of candy.75 percent were in a district and state that did not prohibit the sale of sports drinks, sodas and sugar-sweetened fruit drinks. 58 percent were in a district and state that did not limit the sugar content of snacks.

"Too many of our nation's schools are still selling junk foods and sugary drinks to young children," Chriqui said.

"But the good news is that this is the first generation of children to be enrolled in school at a time when educators and policymakers are focused on preventing childhood obesity -- that's why it's so critical to enact or change policies that make schools healthier places for students," she added in the news release.

View the original article here

Most Restaurants' Kids' Meals Still Unhealthy: Report

Too many kids' meals served at major chain restaurants in the United States still contain too much salt and fat and too many calories, according to a report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

The consumer advocacy group analyzed thousands of kids' meals and found that fried chicken fingers and nuggets, french fries and sodas are the most common items offered to youngsters, USA Today reported.

Some children's meals contain more than 1,000 calories. Federal government dietary guidelines recommend that children ages 4 to 10 eat 1,200 to 2,200 calories for the entire day.

"This is really disappointing," Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for CSPI, told USA Today. "Restaurants should be doing better."

She noted that there has not been much improvement since the group did a similar study in 2008.

View the original article here

Americans Still Making Unhealthy Choices: CDC

High rates of obesity, heavy drinking, smoking and inactivity reported, but most people getting enough sleep

By Dennis Thompson

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, May 21 (HealthDay News) -- The overall health of Americans isn't improving much, with about six in 10 people either overweight or obese and large numbers engaging in unhealthy behaviors like smoking, heavy drinking or not exercising, a new government report shows.

Released Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the report found Americans continuing to make many of the lifestyle choices that have led to soaring rates of heart disease, diabetes and other chronic illnesses, including the following:

About six of 10 adults drink, including an increase in those who reported episodic heavy drinking of five or more drinks in one day during the previous year.Twenty percent of adults smoke, and less than one-half of smokers attempted to quit in the past year.Only one in five adults met federal guidelines for both aerobic activity and muscle-strengthening exercise. One in three was completely inactive when it came to any leisure-time aerobic activity.

The one bright spot in the report came in the area of sleep behavior. About seven in 10 adults meet the federal objective for sufficient sleep.

The findings have been gleaned from nearly 77,000 random interviews conducted between 2008 and 2010.

The numbers reflect persistent trends, said report author Charlotte Schoenborn, a health statistician at the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

"Changes have not been enormous," Schoenborn said. "It's been a very, very slow process of changing awareness of personal choices for healthier ways of life. All of the health-related federal agencies, and a lot of nonfederal groups, are putting a lot of resources to make people aware of the effect they can have on their own health. This report is just designed to say where we are."

The findings did not surprise Rich Hamburg, deputy director of Trust for America's Health, a nonprofit public health organization.

"I think we're in a situation now where we're at a crossroads," Hamburg said. "We have two paths to go. We're hopeful that if we continue to invest in community-based prevention, if we promote healthy eating and active living, these rates will begin to decrease."

Public health organizations use this report to determine which groups of Americans are susceptible to unhealthy behaviors, study author Schoenborn said.

For example, while overall people are getting enough sleep, it turns out that doesn't hold true for people with marital problems, she said. About 38 percent of divorced, separated, or widowed adults have trouble getting enough sleep, compared with 27 percent of married folks.

While this is not the federal government's official report on obesity, its findings jibe with both public and private research into the epidemic, said Hamburg at Trust for America's Health.

View the original article here