The amazing Stephen Ritz

From the South Bronx, in his amazing TED presentation. The sad thing is this very successful program was... terminated! why? Nobody seems willing to tell. This article gives a little more information but not that much. Why did the school administrators terminate this program? Why didn't they explain their reasons publicly? Was it really because they needed this classroom?

Voluntary aqgreements with the food industry criticized in the UK

From The Independent.

Cows tortured in slaughterhouse providing McDonald's, COSTCO, schools

The story reported in the NYT was initiated by Compassion over Killing via undercover videos. The slaughterhouse has been shut down and many contracts cancelled. How many slaughterhouses operate in similar ways?
See also the story on ABC. Interestingly in the LA Times the story is published in the Money section. The article clearly shows many companies very concerned about how their image could be negatively impacted while the trade organizations proclaim all is well.

More kids drink diet sodas :(

Fooducate warns us of this toxic trend and reminds us why diet sodas are bad, bad, bad.

Healthy cereal bars? A myth according to UK consumer group Which

From BBC Health news.

Now come the lawsuits against Big Food

Those lawsuits are filed by attorneys who have been involved in the litigation against Big Tobacco.

HuffPost Healthy Living: loss weight success stories

Just found out this series of stories on the Huffington Post. Interesting but the format could be improved (I think) to include more specific information about each diet. The headlines are often misleading and an abusive simplification like this one emphasizing tennis playing instead of the drastic reduction in food intake and in the type of food. It still would be great of produce/disseminate on a regular basis, inspirational stories, maybe coupled with stories of failures and how best to overcome them?
Yes, similar stories were published about smoking. For example, read the classical
The Last puff, ex-smokers share the secrets of their success.

Worst beverages in America

From Buzzfeed via CSIP. As they say, prepare to be outraged.

Study links healthier students with tougher state snack laws for schools

As reported in the New York Times, the results of this RWJF funded study shows less overweight sutdents in states that have adopted tougher laws regulating the availability of "competitive foods and drinks" in schools. Preventobesity.net is promoting a petition to the Department of Agriculture so that they release new guidelines for schools. It was started in Kentucky by Casey Hinds.
Read The lunch tray the blog of Bettina Elias Siegel, that I just added to the blogroll.

Big Food hires the same lobbyists and PR manipulators as Big Tobacco

From this very instructive August 13 post in Michele Simon's Appetite for Profit about the fight against/for GMO labeling.

Obama Foodorama

Obama Foodorama is a blog published by Eddie Gehman Kohan about the White House food initiatives. Shows (in a way) how they(she) frame the issues (or not). I am not sure about Eddie's status in relation with the administration. Although this interview in Elle gives some details.

Using the Fooducate app in the classroom

From the Fooducate blog...
I cannot say I care for the music in the short video but using the smartphone so many children now have is a good idea. Maybe the content of Fooducate is too technical (depending on the age group). I am not sure about the content of the Smash your food app that seems to target a younger audience (and their parents).

12 states with high obesity rates (more than 30%)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released figures on Monday showing that the number of states with very high obesity rates has grown to 12 from 9. Over all, more than a third of American adults are obese. The latest figures are based on a telephone survey last year that asked adults their height and weight. For the first time, households with only cellphones were included. At least 30 percent of adults are obese in 12 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and West Virginia. Mississippi had the highest rate at nearly 36 percent.

Downsizing Supersize

New Yorker's James Surowiecki about Mayor Bloomberg's initiative.

Sebelius about obesity two years ago

This was a presentation delivered at the first Weight of the Nation conference in July 2009. The approach toward Big Soda is mostly voluntary, lauding the Clinton initiative about reducing the access to sugary drinks in schools. Two years later, the question asked to Secretary Sebelius is about producing a Surgeon General's Report about sugary drinks. When will she give an answer?
Her conclusion in 2009 was:
Reducing obesity - especially for children - would be one of the biggest steps we could take towards this better health future... Indeed. So what about sugary drinks?

Fighting obesity on college campuses

This article was published in USA today in November 2011. What about 2012 and enlisting students and colleges as advocates for obesity control?

Watch: The Hidden Costs of Hamburgers

From Michael Pollan's blog, via Mother Jones site this new video produced by the Center for Investigative Reporting.

How to grow the "movement"?

How to grow the "food movement" is a question Marion Nestle is frequently asked and she wonders how to answer it. She notes there are so many groups around and wonders what their political power would be if they were joining forces. From the experience of the tobacco control movement, the "obesity control movement", is only starting to become aware that it needs to build and use its political muscle: that will require an umbrella organization (with the adequate governance) and a basic political platform where people and organizations can recognize themselves and adhere to.
The internet based tools should allow for the creation of a common clearinghouse/directory/forum similar to what the tobacco control movement had.
It can start with a few individuals and organizations.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
― Margaret Mead

Chef Tony Geraci, Cafeteria Man in Baltimore, Memphis...

Cafeteria Man is a documentary about Tony Geraci's work for the Baltimore's schools. Unfortunately, only a short trailer is available on line. Here is a longer video about his work with the schools in Memphis. Interestingly I found the links to this information via a post on the social media blog of the Ogilvy PR Group...

Exercising more will not do the trick as far as obesity is concerned

Exercising more cannot replace reducing your calorie intake according to this article in the NYT. That's nothing new but it's so much easier to invite people to move more rather than change their diet, especially if it means antagonizing the very powerful lobbies that benefit from the toxic food and drinks that are the real culprits. Rereading the classic book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Caldwell Esselstyn, it is worth remembering the definite advantage of an all plant diet has been know for at least 20 years: the "First National Conference on the Elimination of Coronary Artery Disease" took place in the summer of 1991. Also recommended is the excellent documentary Forksoverknives.
Of course that's not to say we should not exercise... only that this is NOT the solution to the obesity epidemic, despite what Olympic sponsors Coke and McDo would like you to believe.