Monthly Archives: October 2014

School board slams Michelle O’s snack rules: ‘Federal overreach at its worst’

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Federal food “smart snack” rules imposed on schools this year are taking a huge bite out of vending and a la carte sales in Florida’s Pasco County Schools, and officials aren’t concealing their opinions.

By the end of September, a la carte sales in the school district had plummeted by $1,300 a day compared to last year, subsiding somewhat to a $938 per day loss in October, the Tampa Tribune reports.

“This is federal overreach at its worst,” school board member Joanne Hurley said at a policy workshop Tuesday.

The smart snack rules represent the most recent round of federal restrictions on foods sold in schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program. The new rules are part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, a federal overhaul of school food championed by First Lady Michelle Obama.

Thus far, the federal restrictions on calories, fat, whole grains, sodium and other elements of food sold in schools has resulted in widespread opposition, with many students ditching their mandatory greens or skipping lunch altogether to avoid the bland, unappetizing new cafeteria offerings.

The result has been more than 1 million students dropping out of the program and more than $1 billion in food waste. The situation has gotten so bad for some school districts, officials have opted to forgo federal lunch funding to salvage their cafeteria programs by feeding students foods they’ll actually buy and eat.

It’s also meant school clubs or sports teams that used to sell candy bars or other foods that no longer fit within the guidelines can no longer do so during school hours. That has forced many schools, including Pasco County’s, to shift to other types of non-food fundraisers, which are less popular.

Julie Hedline, director of food services for Pasco County Schools, told the Tampa Tribune that even some of the district’s most healthy a la carte lunch items can no longer be served to students, and there isn’t much officials can do about it.

School board slams Michelle O’s snack rules: ‘Federal overreach at its worst’ – EAGnews.org

Pounds for lbs: UK Government to pay fat people if they lose weight

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Overweight people will receive cash or gift vouchers if they lose weight – as long as they have jobs.

Under radical NHS plans to tackle the obesity crisis employers will get funding to offer ­incentives for staff who slim down.

But top doctor Clive Peedell said: “This policy will do nothing to help the millions of unemployed and the growing numbers of self-employed people who may need help but won’t qualify.”

Outlining the plans, NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens pointed out that such schemes had been a success in America.

He said: “Employers in many countries have voluntary schemes for employees where, for example, you actually get cash back based on ­participation in Weight Watchers or other type schemes.”

Asked what rewards could be on offer, he said: “It could be shopping vouchers, it could be cash, it could be prizes.”

Pounds for lbs: Government to PAY fat people if they lose weight – Mirror Online

UCSF Study Links Soda To Premature Aging, Disease, Early Death

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A new study looked at whether America’s thirst for soda speeds up how the body’s cells age.

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco used a sample of 5300 healthy adults. Dr. Elissa Epel worked on the study for 5 years.

“We think we can get away with drinking lots of soda as long as we are not gaining weight, but this suggests that there is an invisible pathway that leads to accelerated aging, regardless of weight,” said Dr. Epel.

Epel’s team discovered that in people who drank more sugar-sweetened beverages, the ends of their chromosomes, known as telomeres, were shorter.

The shorter the telomere, the less a cell can regenerate thus aging the body, and raising the risk of disease and early death.

“This finding is alarming because it suggest that soda may be aging us, in ways we are not even aware of,” said Dr. Epel.

Researchers found no link in cell aging, however, when drinking diet sodas and fruit juices.

Concerned about possible health effects, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg lost a high-profile court battle to ban large sodas there.

“I’ve got to defend my children and you and everybody else,” said Bloomberg.

He’s now supporting a measure on the November ballot in Berkeley that would add a 1-cent per ounce tax on soda distributors.

Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia currently tax sodas sold in vending machines.

Still, helped by ad campaigns from various groups, soda companies are on a 4-year winning streak. Thirty bills to levy or raise taxes on sugary drinks have all failed.

The American Beverage Association declined an interview about the study, but insist the researchers did not find a “conclusive” link between soda and cell aging.

UCSF Study Links Soda To Premature Aging, Disease, Early Death « CBS San Francisco