THE COLOUR IS GRAY

Labels: News, Obesity Article

Labels: News, Obesity Article

Labels: News, Obesity Article

Labels: News, Obesity Article

Jefferson Elementary students make their lunch at the sandwich bar Friday. Students across the district have more healthy options than ever before, including multi-grain breads for sandwiches, daily salads and low-fat grilled chicken. Even meals like pizza and chicken nuggets are reduced-fat. Sentinel-Standard/FRANK KONKEL

"There are a lot of things we're doing (at Ionia Public Schools) to deal with obesity," said IPS food service director Elenda May, who is also a chairperson on the Wellness Committee. "It's something we've been doing for awhile, actually. We're trying to impact students with the 'balance your life' mentality."

A good way for students to balance their lives is to first balance their meals.

Elementary schools across the district have removed pop machines from their buildings this year and have instead promoted juices or water.

In addition, IPS cafeterias across the district now offer healthier options inside the cafeteria.

Instead of highly processed breads, IPS and many other districts now use multi-grain buns.

In place of standard potato chips, which are extremely high in saturated fat and sodium, schools now offer baked chips instead, while french fries were moved from a daily option to only available once per week.

"So far, we've only had one person complain about [these changes]," May said. "We've definitely tried to focus on diets."

May has insisted on low-fat pizzas and chicken nuggets, and now each cafeteria in the district offers a low-fat grilled chicken meal each day as a healthy option.

They've also gone to serving fresh fruit and vegetables in the high school cafeteria at discounted prices to encourage students to eat healthy.

These are all big steps, said May, because improving food intake while at school - in the cafeteria and out - goes a long way toward improving student lifestyles.

"What we want to do is change the way students think about food and exercise at a young age, so that as they get older, those habits will be ingrained in them," May said. "Otherwise, they keep those bad eating habits."

Physically, the message from the school - and community - is clear.

"We've worked to encourage involvement between schools and the community to get children up and moving," said MSU Extension Educator Brenda Long, who has written grants that have brought in $16,000 to Ionia through the Michigan Department of Health in the past two years.

That money was used to promote nutrition and physical activity education through the Ionia Youth Workgroup.

"In order to beat something as prevalent as obesity, we need to see education coming from a lot of different places. The school is teaching health in the curriculum, it's one place. But it needs to come from the family and community," she said.

Different schools across the district have held recess/after-school programs to spur youth activity.

Jefferson Elementary principal Jack Manciu has implemented run-walk programs after school in the past, as has Rather Elementary principal Darin Magley.

Similarly, various youth fitness clubs can be found across the county as a direct result of rising obesity rates.

May said some schools in the district actually push their staffs to model proper physical and nutrition behavior through the 'Six Weeks to Wellness" program.

Staff members get points for certain things like walking a mile, eating healthy foods and the like.

"The important thing is that students are seeing the example," May said. "It's an ongoing process."

The city has gotten involved, too.

The Ionia Parks and Recreation Department offers a myriad of youth sports at free to low-cost fees.

Youth open basketball, indoor/outdoor soccer, Tee Ball and Tae-Kwon-Do are just some of the youth options available for children of almost any age.

Labels: News, Obesity Article

Britain is in the grip of an epidemic. In the UK two-thirds of adults and a third of children are already overweight or obese, and without action this could rise to almost nine in 10 adults and two-thirds of children by 2050.

This trend has a severe impact on the health of individuals, increasing the risk of diabetes, cancer and heart and liver disease. The eminent scientists who spent two years studying the long-term effects of obesity predict a sevenfold increase in direct healthcare costs and that 60% of men, 50% of women and 25% of children will be obese by 2050 if nothing is done to tackle current trends.

The cost will be felt by every single part of society, not just in headline financial or health terms but in very personal ways, affecting the lives and opportunities of millions of people. The core of the problem is simple – we eat too much and undertake too little physical activity. The solution is more complex.

This imbalance is ultimately the result of what the scientists call an "obesogenic environment", from the nature of the food that we eat to the built environment and the way our children lead their lives: it is harder to avoid obesity. In short, modern life is contributing to making us overweight.

It was the scientists in their Foresight report who said society is facing a public health problem that is comparable to climate change. Failure to act now will lead to serious adverse consequences in a few decades, and any delay raises the real possibility that reversal of these trends may cease to be an option.

This week we will publish a cross-government strategy on obesity. Having been at least 30 years in the making, the epidemic will not be halted overnight. The strategy is the first stage of the government's response to the Foresight report and will be followed by an annual report that assesses progress, looks at the latest evidence and trends and makes recommendations for further action. A panel of experts will assist the government with input from a new public health obesity observatory that will develop our understanding of what changes behaviour.

The strategy will focus on five areas: healthy children, promoting healthier food choices, building physical activity into our daily lives, creating incentives for better health, and personalised information and care for people already overweight or obese.

It will build upon the measures already taken on food labelling, restrictions on advertising to children and healthy school meals. Ed Balls's Children's Plan sets out the steps we have taken and will take to increase physical activity levels in schools and improve the nutritional content of school food even further.

Obviously, government action alone is not enough. We will succeed only if the problem is recognised, owned and addressed in every part of society – in particular it will require personal responsibility and action among communities, teachers, clinicians, industry and local and national government.

Some will characterise any attempt by government to tackle this problem as unnecessary interference with individual choice. The fact is that people worry more about a neglectful state than a nanny state.

It is not the government's job to hector or lecture, but it is our duty to give people clear and transparent information, and to help and support them in their endeavours to make sure they and their children can pursue a healthy lifestyle.

Making sure people have the right information is critical. Whether it is the importance of breastfeeding, the impact of diet on health or better food labelling, it is essential that people can make an informed choice about their diet and lifestyle. Government and industry have a duty to do more to make sure the food we buy is healthier, and to ensure clear and consistent information.

We also need to do more to give people the opportunity to build activity into their daily lives. The fabric of our urban and rural spaces needs to change to encourage healthy living. That's why I want to establish a fund that will pioneer fresh approaches in new and existing towns to promote physical activity.

These "healthy towns" will build on a successful model developed in France and will combine infrastructure improvements – such as better cycle routes and higher-quality parks – with community programmes that promote healthy eating and activity.

Hazel Blears, the communities secretary, and I will also look at how the planning system can help all areas by making decisions that promote physical activity, with better use of the regulations that enable local authorities to limit the spread of fast-food outlets, especially near parks and schools.

As the prime minister set out in his speech at King's College London, the NHS also needs to do more to offer a personalised service that is as focused on predict and prevent as diagnose and cure. The NHS has a central role in helping people who are overweight or obese to achieve real sustained weight loss.

The rising tide of overweight and obese people is the most significant public and personal health challenge facing our society. With concerted action across government and with wide institutional support aligned to personal responsibility, I am confident we can do what no other country has yet done and reverse the obesity trend.

Alan Johnson is secretary of state for health

Labels: News, Obesity Article

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