"I applaud the First Lady for taking the childhood obesity epidemic to the national level. The $6.7 billion we spend annually on obesity related issues could be used to close our nation's budget deficit," points out New York State's First Lady Michelle Patterson, also a passionate and practical proponent of healthy nutrition for children. She spoke last week at the Urban Zen Center in downtown Manhattan, which hosted FitTown USA, a two day seminar co-sponsored by Donna Karan's Urban Zen Foundation and HealthCorps, launched by Mehmet Oz, MD and his wife, Lisa Oz, to empower young people to become agents for healthy change.
"It's not about lecturing kids about healthy nutrition or setting up nutritional gatekeepers," Barnaby Spring, a Brooklyn school principle agrees. "We need to give kids the experience of what healthy food is-- Our kids need to plant it, grow it, and prepare it. It needs to be made affordable."
HealthCorps sends young health activists into school systems to inspire students and find practical and creative ways to build healthy nutrition and exercise into their lives. "The kids wanted to learn Kung Fu but there was no kung fu studio--so we emptied class room and turned it into one. They needed aerobic exercise but due to program cuts, there was no exercise equipment, so we organized to do stair climbing as exercise," reported Kristy Borak, a HealthCorps coordinator at a Manhattan high school.
When Patterson launched the "Healthy Steps to Albany" program, which will serve an estimated 362,000 middle school New York State children this year, she learned that before the Healthy Steps farm visits, many children "didn't know that a potato chip comes from a potato," or that "milk comes from a cow, not the grocery store."
Teaching kids about healthy nutrition directly challenges school food offerings which are typically poor quality, fattening, and fast, a turnkey bureaucratic solution that translates into weight gain and poor health, especially for those from lower income families, who often eat their only meal of the day at school.
'I have an issue with the flavored milks offered in schools," says chef Alexandra Jamieson. "They contain nearly as much sugar as a Coke. That's ridiculous. Kids should not be offered that kind of "choice." "
Poor quality food actually undermines the ability to learn, says Physician Sarita Dhuper, MD, who directs a pediatric obesity program at a Brooklyn Hospital. "High quality food is both healthy and improves concentration and learning."
"Everyone thinks the school lunch served at our is pretty disgusting," says area high school principal Jean McTavish. "Even the woman who runs the school food program. She says she won't eat the food. But it's been like beating our heads against the wall to make any healthy changes." McTavish managed to raise the money to assemble a small kitchen where children can learn to cook.
Despite the creativity and dedication of principals like McTavish and Spring, they alone can't resolve the systemic causes of unhealthy food and poor school nutrition. However, grass roots organizing and advocacy can build to larger scale social change.
That's why, "with the HealthCorps children as the ambassadors, we're spreading the word at home," says Lisa Oz.
Learning about health with their peers also helps to inoculate children from the powerful market forces driving the consumption of unhealthy foods both via deals within the school system and advertising outside of it. "TV has a large influence," points out pioneering nutritional educator, Annemarie Colbin, PhD, " Many children can't distinguish between the programs and the commercials."
When raising her own family, Colbin, now a grandmother, handled her children's pleas for fast foods, sodas, and sweets by telling them, "Any food that is advertised on TV--don't ask, I'm not buying it."
"Let's not forget that the first legal obligations of the companies producing these foods is to make money-- not to support our health," says Jamieson.
"We need to make health a priority," says Spring. But "these problems must be addressed in a multi-faceted way. Until we address the economic and social problems, we are spinning our wheels," says McTavish.
"It's vital to work at both the personal level to make better food choices," says Michael Conard, of the Urban Design Lab at Earth Institute. "But also at the societal level to change farming practices that subsidize cheap unhealthy food."
Societal changes require broad based grass roots consumer support; or even well-intentioned legislative efforts risk defeat, Patterson reminds the group.
"When we proposed a soda tax on sweetened beverages, it was knocked down in the state legislature," Patterson recalls. "We need people lobbying Albany and saying enough's enough--these are our kids and their future."
That's why "we can't just sit back and hope that government can do it, it has to be a partnership of public and private working together," says Lisa Oz. HealthCorps programs support such alliances by coalescing an active citizenship as a base.
"Our goal is to empower people and to bring together those who are as concerned about this as we are," says HealthCorps' Borak.
"The systemic changes necessary for the sake of our children and their health won't happen, unless all of us do our part," Donna Karan reminded the FitTown participants. "We each have a piece of the puzzle. We all must do what we can, and then turn around and talk to our neighbors and our friends and get them to do their part too."
For Patterson, the bottom line is that studies show that the next generation of children have a lower life expectancy than their parents--once again due to childhood obesity. "In human history, this has never happened before!" Patterson says. "We need to turn this around."
For health insight, science, and action, get the free ezine at: www.healthjournalist.com
Follow Alison Rose Levy on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AlisonRoseLevy
Michael F. Jacobson: A Soda Tax Is a Good Policy to Reduce Obesity in the United States
Marion Nestle: Obesity Initiative Sends Food Companies Scrambling
Her daughter came home and stated "how hungry she was and the school did not feed her."
mom: What the h3!! you mean the school did not feed you? Are they picking on you because of how fat you are?
Child: They do pick on me, but they just did not feed me today
mom: You better not be telling a (insert curse word of choice) lie.
child: Well, they did feed me, but it was only a snack
mom: what do yo mean a snack?
child: they only gave me a snack. They only gave me four chicken nuggets, an apple and a juice. they said it was lunch, but it was just a snack. I told the teacher that I wanted a ten piece nugget and a cheeseburger with a large fry and soda that my mommy gives me everyday for dinner.
Take care
Dr. Jessica
http://www.thecenterfordiscovery.net
Michelle Obama is doing a fantastic job raising awareness of this issue, she should be applauded.
Thanks for a great article.
Lara
http://ultimatelifestyleproject.com/you-are-going-to-die
Media and advertisers know just how to reach our kids (see recent research about tobacco companies targeting teen girls), so let's use those strategies to create trends that enhance health.
Ed Hardy and Juicy, are you listening?
http://mamasoncall.com
Another outrage is the use of ammonia to process portions of a beef carcass that used to be used for dog food. This ground beef is in the School Lunch Program as well as the grocery store. Ammonia is not listed as an ingredient because is only a “processing agent.” Wake up America!
It's been over thirty years since I taught high school. (Thank heavens... I didn't come up to what I felt were minimal standards.) But healthy food was a problem then too. In that small semi-rural community, most kids brought lunch and there were only a couple of soda machines. But kids brought individual bags of chips or Fritos, and Student Council sold chips. Some school meals, even their horrible pizza, were popular with the sack-lunch crowd. A lot of trading, swapping, and selling went on.
But nobody wanted fresh fruit... the fruit responsible packed daily. Occasionally kids would eat it, or at least take a few bites. Bananas were much more popular. Still, there was always so much left on the lunchtables I never had to buy fruit. Most fruit was thrown out.
I've always been convinced this was peer pressure, making fresh fruit a totally Uncool thing. So it might make it easier to sell the idea of healthy eating by convincing the Cool Kids that healthy food is Cool.
another winning and important post!
Th is a subject I find close to heart
Thank you!
Lovingly,
Ed
PS - check our Oprah.com/spirit blog - it would be fun if you commented!
http://www.oprah.com/spirit/How-Meditation-Can-Calm-Your-Mind
If we want to get kids to eat healthy, obviously the parents or guardians are the place to start. If they do not have healthy habits themselves, they are not going to be able to model the behavior for their kids, nor credibly teach them healthy habits. Schools can obviously do a lot more, but only if federal policy changes: agricultural subsidies eliminated (corn especially), stop buying excess beef and cheese from large agribusiness for the National School Lunch program (how about local, grass-fed beef from a CSA with those federal dollars?), provide more money overall... Without that, even well-intentioned food services will only be able to go so far.
Connecting to curriculum and getting students to learn through hands on experiences in growing, harvesting, processing, cooking, eating and composting is where the systemic change can be inserted... even when home life isn't ideal, and this is the only decent meals these kids get.
As a School Board Commissioner in Burlington, VT, I have brought these issues up, as I think we can always do better. One unintended, but beautiful, consequence of talking about this topic: my seven year old is now very careful to read food labels and is very focused on the amount of sugar in various foods she eats... I did not particularly encourage this, but showed her how to read the label when she asked. Kids do care and do make good choices.. when they have accurate information.
Thanks again! Fanned!
Simply when grocery shopping I stick to the outside of the store and choose real food that is local, seasonal and when I can local and organic. And I try to cook everything myself...
While obesity is a pressing issue people need to understand that this is a whole lot more that being over weight we are filling our bodies with food that is some cases seem more toxic than anythings else. Obesity is linked with increasing risk to cancer. Statistics dating a few years back indicate that about 41,000 new cases of cancer in the United States were estimated to be due to obesity.
Thanks for the post!
Bill Couzens Founder Less Cancer
You are oh so right. Unfortunately, obesity increases incidence of diabetes, heart disease and cancer. So this is not just a vanity thing-- and it's why a nationwide change in nutrition is a strong lever to both improve health and lower health costs. It's also why it's good for us, it's good for our kids, it's good for everyone, and it's good for the economy. What can I say?
But Bill, I know that you and so many of those commenting here are aware of this-- and that is why it's about personal change and also social implementation-- which means we have to ask "Why push foods on kids that will make them sick?" "Why do that in schools?"
A missing link for many is signing up to activist organizations, like yours' Less Cancer and the health advocacy and action groups I feature in my news letter (free sign up at www.healthjournalist.com)
Right now, John McCain has introduced a law that will undermine peoples' rights to healthy supplements because a few athletes went out to buy illegal supplements on the black market, and then were disqualified because those supplements contained steroids.
There's stuff like this going on every day, and that's why begin at home, folks, but go on to take public action which will be easier if we all join forces.
Alison
Its not surprising (but always amazes me) when profit looms ahead how so many can talk themselves into looking the other way even when it involves school children.
The headline is Alison we are making our children sick.
We are not understanding what we feed our children has everything to do with life and death.
Health Care begins in the grocery store.
Keep writing --keep banging the drum.
Bill
Bill Couzens, Founder Less Cancer
http://raisingamazingdaughters.wordpress.com
I feel that the most important takeaway from all of the experienced speakers at FitTown as well as the commenters on this blog is that it's not one single group who is either all responsible or all to blame. We are used to going after a single cure or health tip, but this a society wide multifactoral problem and change has to happen on multiple levels.
Because people feel so disempowered by these larger forces that invade our food environment with their products and advertising, there's a wish to hunker down at home and protect oneself and one's family. That is a great and natural instinct-- and certainly walking your talk is critical.
At the same time, if we overlook the social factors that make this such a tough environment in which to eat healthily, it makes it harder for each one of us. Whether it's one's husband or our children's peers who unknowingly exert a less than healthy influence, it's because of the larger forces that have influenced them. So let's not forget, that eating right is just the beginning-- we need social action too and with Michelle Obama taking the lead, we shouldn't be afraid to ask for it.
Please readers, sign up for my newsletter at:www.healthjournalist.com I feature social actions you can participate in if you care about this.
Alison
Sounds harsh? Believe me. That's not the worst part of my childhood.
Every child I know who hates veggies has a parent who won't touch them and if you think you can get away with that, well, it won't work.
My kids grew up as veggie lovers and very adventurous eaters. They helped cook with us so both are great cooks now. My 23 yr. old was at his apt. with a cold and when I called him, I asked what he was eating and he said yam and lentil soup... I said I'd love it if he would pick me up a can of that (he works part time at a natural grocers) and he laughed and said he'd made it from scratch. I can't even tell you what it feels like to have a kid who makes his own yam and lentil soup (a recipe not even in my repertoire)
It's not enough to feed our kids healthy food... it's more important that we as parents make healthy choices ourselves and do it as a real and truthful lifestyle.
A friend told me that her daughter's fave foods are Swiss chard, candied ginger, and blueberries-- and I commented, Those are my favorite foods.
Meanwhile, her daughter is seven months old!
Start' em young, folks!
Alison
My husband was in a house full of junk and his Mom made meat centered meals that catered to kids' taste.
Frequently when I'm trying to get my kids to eat something he argues that its not "kids' food." I keep telling him that there is no such thing as "kids' food" and that in every other culture kids eat what their parents eat.
I can control certain aspects of my kids diets, but because my husband isn't fully on board,it's a bigger struggle.
*lol* actually, from your description of the house you grew up in and your husband's mother, you could be one of my sisters.
Well on my way to earning the reputation of "weird earth-mother lady" I cannot completely forbid or eliminate the poor choices. To address this I have done three things: 1) keep our diet at home as pure and wholesome as possible; 2) keep her enrolled in team sports; and 3) invested in a commercial grade blender that enables me to hide high quality vegetables in a morning smoothie.
I have also taught my daughter to look out for and avoid corn syrups, hydrogenated oils, MSG and GMO soy products. This is working because last week a friend of her's remarked to another student, "Oh she can't eat that it has partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil and that's really bad for you."
My solutions aren't a panacea, but I feel as though they help.
Thanks for highlighting this important topic.
Cynthia
www.cynthiaoccelli.com
I love that your daughter reads labels. And I too love my commercial grade blender. I actually like smoothies, nut butters with fruit, and a healthy wheat free pizza crust laden with tomato and all kinds of vegetables as kid-friendly foods for transitioning to a healthier diet.
And for the meat eaters. grass-fed lamb or turkey mini-burgers are great carry along snack foods. Snack foods are very important to have on hand-- so that kids don't make poor choices when hunger hits.
Thanks again!
Alison
It's nice to know I can send my daughter to school and if she's served pizza, at least it's whole wheat crust with a cheese that's actual cheese and not "processed cheese food." I also like that I know she can't get a can of soda or some "fruit punch" that's 50% corn syrup.
It could still be better, but at least it's not as horrible as the stuff you read that's being served at Mrs. Q's school on her blog "Fed Up the School Lunch Project" If you haven't checked out her blog you really should. It's at http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/