This is an important week for the future of US school lunch nutrition. The Child Nutrition Act is up for re-authorization, and many groups are hoping the program will increase spending to improve the nutritional value of school lunches.

The School Nutrition Association (SNA), which represents more than 75% of the food service workers in American schools, is convening in Washington DC for their annual Legislative Action Conference. Michelle Obama addressed the group, which is very supportive of Let’s Move, her new initiative to battle childhood obesity.  Details here, thanks to ObamaFoodorama.

Yesterday the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee convened a hearing Improving Children’s Health: Strengthening Federal Nutrition Programs.

Lunch for the session was prepared by Chicago high school students who had won a school lunch cooking competition late last year. The lunch they prepared had to be both nutritious and tasty. These amazing kids could only spend $2.68 per meal, the allotted funding by the government for school lunches that feed millions of children across the nation daily.

Last week  we had the honor of participating in a blogger conference call of the Healthy Schools Campaign, headed by Rochelle Davis, Founding Executive Director.  The non-profit organization is dedicated to making schools a healthier place to learn and work. They focus on improving school food and physical activity and their efforts, such as the “Cooking Up Change” culinary competitions for students, have already been showing success in the Chicago area in the past year.

The organization strongly support the First Lady’s efforts and itself has won 2 honorary co-chairs of the Campaign are the Karen Duncan – wife of the Secretary of Education,  and  Christie Vilsack – wife of the Secretary of Agriculture.

According to Rochelle Davis, In many schools today there is a big disconnect between what students are taught is healthy and what they are actually served in school cafeterias.The cheaper foods being served today are the least healthy – full of fat, sodium, and very highly processed. Davis is campaigning in hopes the government will prioritize the funding to be able to pay for healthier foods for school lunch. While she doesn’t expect thing to change overnight, she does believe that raising the awareness level of school administrators, food service directors, and the kids themselves can bring about substantial change, even with small financial increases from the government.

A big question that looms – will kids actually want to eat all the healthy food?

If they don’t like the broccoli at home, why would they eat it at school?

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New! Choose a better breakfast with CerealScan™ by Fooducate

First Lady Michelle Obama has a legacy she wants to leave behind: drastically reducing childhood obesity. Yesterday at a Mayors Conference in Washington DC,  she announced a new initiative in this spirit, to be formally announced in February.

After presenting the dismal stats (around 18% of kids are obese), Mrs. Obama outlined what is to be a joint effort at the federal, municipal, and non-profit levels.

“The idea here is very simple: to put in place commonsense, innovative solutions that empower families and communities to make healthy decisions for their kids.”

The main points:

• improved school lunches
• more physical activity (including school phys-ed cut due to budget constraints)
• access to fresh and healthy foods in all communities (nutrition deserts are all too common in poor urban areas)
• nutrition education for kids and their parents.

This is a great plan, and Mrs Obama deserves kudos for bringing childhood obesity to our collective attention. No doubt her status as the nation’s number one mom, with personal experiences and challenges in feeding her family, make her one of the best champions for the cause.

However…

I’m sorry, First Lady, your plan, while commendable, doesn’t have a fighting chance.

Here’s why: Read more…

Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity presented a report on breakfast cereal this weekend  in Washington DC as part of the annual meeting of the Obesity Society. The findings were not surprising and can be summed up as follows: Manufacturers peddle sugary cereal to kids while painting these cereals as health to parents and nutritionists.

General Mill, one of the big four cereal manufacturers, responded with a letter to health professionals. Below is an excerpt and our commentary in bold:

October 27, 2009

You may have seen or heard reports over the weekend about a cereal study conducted by the Rudd Center for Food and Policy. While the focus of the Rudd Center study is on advertising, it also seems to imply that kid-cereals are linked to obesity in children. We wanted to assure you that all General Mill’s Big G cereals continue to be nutritious and help children and adults maintain a healthy body weight while also meeting key nutrient requirements–this includes presweetened cereals.

Cereal remains a low-calorie, nutrient-dense food contributing positively to the overall nutritional status of children:
•    Kids who frequently eat cereal for breakfast have healthier body weights, have better nutritional status, and are less likely to have weight gain during adolescence. And kids that eat less sweetened cereals probably do even better, don’t they?

•    Cereal is a lower calorie breakfast choice compared to many other foods at only 110-130 calories/serving (and that includes pre-sweetened cereals). Sugar is only 16 calories per teaspoon, does that mean kids 4-6 teaspoons of sugar for breakfast?

•    Cereal is nutrient dense and provides a good or excellent source of at least 10 key nutrients and very few calories. It is only an excellent source because of fortification. The vitamins and minerals are sprayed on the cereal and dissolve into the milk. If your child doesn’t consumer the milk, she does not take in all the nutrients. And who can tell us how bio-available each one of the nutrients is. Lastly, most Americans are not deficient in any of the fortification nutrients to begin with. They are deficient in fiber. Why do kids cereals range in the 0-3 grams when they could be 5or 6 grams worth per serving?

•    Overall, cereals—including presweetened cereals—provide less than 4% of a children’s sugar intake. And according to Coke’s CEO, so do soft drinks. And if we’ll ask Mars Inc CEO, they’ll also point the finger elsewhere. So if nobody is responsible for a big chunk of of our kids’ sugar intake, where is it all coming from?

Juli Hermanson, MPH, RD                    Tamara Schryver, PhD, RD
General Mills Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition    General Mills Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition

Lastly, don’t you get a strange feeling in your stomach when a food company sets up an “Institute of Health”?

What to do at the supermarket:

Breakfast is important. Breakfast cereals can be a great start to the day. But keep the sugar low (less than 6 grams per serving) and the fiber high (5 grams per serving and up).

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USA Today has two stories out about a recent research project by Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. The findings were presented in Washington DC as part of the annual meeting of the Obesity Society. Here’s what they found:

Cereals marketed to kids have 85% more sugar, 65% less fiber and 60% more sodium than those aimed at adults!

Some more interesting facts:

•The least nutritious cereals are  the most heavily marketed to children – Reese’s Puffs, Corn Pops, Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cap’n Crunch.

•Some of the products with the poorest nutrition ratings have health claims on the boxes.

•The average preschooler sees 642 TV cereal ads a year; most are for types with the worst nutrition ratings.

•Cereal companies spend more than $156 million a year marketing to children.

This study shines an even brighter light on the ludicrous Smart Choices Program, terminated this weekend, which elevated candy breakfasts such as Froot Loops and Apple Jacks to a “nutritious” status.

As Expected, the major cereal manufacturers have an answer though:

General Mills spokeswoman Heidi Geller says kids who eat cereal more frequently, including pre-sweetened cereals, “tend to weigh less than kids who eat cereal less frequently — and they are better nourished.”

The Rudd center put together a great website called Cereal Facts, that lets parents search cereals by name or manufacturer, and then receive a nutrition ranking, including information about the product.

What to do at the supermarket:

Look for cereals that are high in fiber (3 grams and up per serving), low in sugar (less than 6 grams), and low in sodium (less than 120mg). If your kids complain that they are not sweet enough – you can always add a spoonful of honey, maple syrup, or sugar to the milk.

Click here for a list of the top 10 cereals according to Cereal Facts. In the list are shredded wheat products from Kashi, Barbara’s Bakery, Nature’s Path and the big players too.

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Last week, The Coca Cola Company announced a new, smaller sized Coke can, (“only” 7.5 fl. oz.):

The Coca-Cola mini can is a great option for smaller thirst occasions, and for calorie-conscious consumers,” said Hendrik Steckhan, president and general manager, Sparkling Beverages, Coca-Cola North America. “Our new sleek mini can supports the idea of moderation and offers people yet another way to enjoy their favorite Coca-Cola beverage.”

Scheduled for a test run in New York and Washington DC in December, these cans will contain only 90 calories. A national rollout is scheduled for March 2010.

Interestingly, this new product innovation was NOT presented at the recently ended Food and Nutrition Conference and expo of the American Dietetic Association in Denver.

What you need to know:

This is great.

As a first step.

Beverage manufacturers, and Coke as their uber-symbol, have been under attack for being a contributing factor to the rising obesity rates in the US. Fear of a “soda tax” prompted the beverage industry leaders to a flurry of op-eds in leading newspapers as well as various alliances with health professionals in order to improve their public image.

This smaller can is the first substantial move in the right direction.

But it is a small step. The 90 calories come almost entirely from sugar, of which there are about 21 grams. That’s more than 5 teaspoons worth of a sugar rush. Yes it’s better than 150 calories (10 teaspoons) in a 12 oz can. But what will the price be? Will the product be sold alongside its larger brothers at a prohibitive price.

And even if the price per fl oz is identical, will consumers, so used to supersizing, want to go back?

Here’s an idea, Coke: After the rollout of the smaller cans, how about a rollback of the larger sized cans?

What to do at the supermarket:

If you can’t go cold turkey on soft drinks, these types of product can at least help reduce your liquid candy consumption.

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Worrying numbers from a government conference in Washington DC this week:

Obese Americans — those who are 30 or more pounds over a healthy weight — cost the country an estimated $147 billion in weight-related medical bills in 2008, double what it was a decade ago, a new study shows.

Overall, an obese patient has $4,871 in medical bills a year compared with $3,442 for a patient at a healthy weight.

Read USA Today Article…

The Center for Disease Control and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation are sharing  alarming findings with elected and appointed public policy makers as well as federal, state and local public health leaders in a 3 day conference dedicated to obesity prevention.

What you need to know:

The percentage of obese adults in the US grew from 15% in 1980 to 34% in 2006 (more than double).

About 34% of adults — more than 72 million — in the USA were obese in 2006, up from 23% in 1994, according to government data. Two-thirds of people in this county are overweight or obese. Obesity increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, several types of cancer and other diseases.

Clearly, something is broken with the system that feeds us.

What does this have to do with President Obama’s health care reform, all over the news these days?

The reform is an important overhaul no doubt. With  costs soaring, and health care becoming a luxury instead of a basic right for many Americans, there are many corrections required.

One of the ways to improve health care is through prevention. For example, preventing obesity.

This means stepping up to the collective plate and taking some radical steps:

For one, aligning the price of junk food with its real cost. Not the cost at the cash register, but the cost 20 years down the line at the hospital. (If you are thinking Soda Tax, this is just one option. Another is eliminating silly subsidies for corn that have flooded the market with high fructose corn syrup, and extra fat livestock).

Another measure is substantially restricting junk food advertising to children.

Lastly, the government can mandate clear, easy to understand food labels. Today’s labels are confusing. They allow manufacturers to obfuscate the true nutritional quality of a processed food item through flimsy health claims and marketing hype.

What to do at the supermarket:

Don’t hold your breath waiting for the government to help you. While you can certainly have your voice heard by writing to your state and federal representatives, a much more effective tool is to vote with your pocketbook.

Vote at the supermarket by choosing unprocessed foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, low fat dairy and meat, and whole grains.

Vote by limiting your spending on junk foods.

Vote by cutting your spending on soft drinks to zero.

You’ll not only improve your health almost immediately, you’ll save yourself $1400 per year in health care costs down the road.

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As children, we loved visiting The Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. Besides all the cool spacegear, a special treat awaited us at the souvenir shop – Astronaut Dessert in the form of freeze dried ice cream. Strawberry and Chocolate flavor. Melt in your mouth heaven for a 9 year old.

Fast forward to present day, Freeze Dried Partners LLC has recently introduced a line of freeze dried snacks called Funky Monkey, made from real fruit. There are 4 flavors, 3 of which are USDA Organic. From the manufacturer:

Funky Monkey Snacks contain no added sugar, preservatives, colors or flavors.  The snacks are made using a proprietary freeze-drying process on whole slices and large pieces of fruit.  The process, not used on any other snack available in the U.S., removes approximately 97 percent of the moisture content of the fruit, providing a crisp, crunchy texture, while retaining nearly all of the fruit’s nutrients.

Funky Monkey Snacks are a healthier and more natural alternative to dried fruit or fruit snacks.  Dried fruit does not preserve all the nutrients of fresh fruit, and fruit snacks often contain added sugars (including high-fructose corn syrup), colors, flavors and preservatives.

Below are the results of our taste test and nutritional analysis. Read more…