Posts Tagged: nutrition

Easy access to fast foods makes kids fat

A new UC Berkeley study that is getting lots of media attention notes that the incidence of obesity in high school students is greater when there is a fast food restaurant within 530 feet of the campus. Nearby fast food resulted in a 5.2 percent increase in the incidence of student obesity compared with the average for California youths, according to coverage in the Los Angeles Times. Scientists said the correlation is "sizable."

Reporter Jerry Hirsch sought comment from the nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor for UC Cooperative Extension in Los Angeles County, Brenda Roche. She said she wasn't surprised by the findings.

"If you put a McDonald's in front of a school, kids will eat there," she said. "Obesity is as much a factor of environment as it is a matter of choice."

Other media outlets that covered the story included:

• ABC Channel 7 news
• Reuters
• Gulf Times

In the Reuters story, a spokeswomen for the National Retail Federation, Ellen Davis, rejected the idea that schools be surrounded by a fast food-free zone.

"I think it would be a dangerous precedent to limit the types of legitimate, important businesses and where they're located in a city. Doesn't it make more sense for parents to limit a child's allowance or let them know when and where they can't eat certain things?" she was quoted.

Perhaps parents, schools, government and food purveyors should all be part of the effort to curb obesity.

EFNEP celebrates 40th anniversary

The federal Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, known as EFNEP, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, notes a news release distributed yesterday by the USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service. The release said a 40th anniversary celebration was held at the University of California Washington Center in Washington, DC, however, I couldn't find mention of the anniversary or the celebration in any online media outlets.

Each year, EFNEP helps more than 500,000 limited-resource family members make sound nutrition and health choices. County extension family and consumer science professionals provide training and supervise peer educators and volunteers who teach EFNEP in their local communities. There are EFNEP programs offered in 16 California counties, which serve 12,000 low-income residents each year.

California families have shared  in their evaluations that EFNEP has transformed their lives for the better. Some said they have changed what their family eats on a regular basis, switched to low-fat milk instead of whole milk and have fruit for snacks. Some report eating more vegetables and fruit and thawing meat and poultry in the refrigerator. Some walk daily, others play games with their children. Almost all use store ads and unit pricing to get the best shopping deals.

Getting fruits and veggies from a can

A lot of ink has been splashed on newspaper pages recently extolling locally grown, fresh fruits and vegetables for improving the diet and supporting a sustainable food system. The Modesto Bee today takes a step back and revisits canned fruits and vegetables, which are produced in abundance in the Northern San Joaquin Valley community that the newspaper serves.

According to the story, the canned food industry maintains that canning seals in flavor and nutrients, are affordable, easy to use and available year round. They pointed reporter John Holland to a 2007 UC Davis study that found high vitamin A in canned apricots and in a lesser amount in canned peaches and tomatoes. The canning process, which includes cooking, makes it easier for the body to absorb the vitamin A and lycopene, a substance in tomatoes that is said to prevent cancer, the article said.

While vitamin C can be lost when harvested crops are exposed to water or heat, many canned products are fortified with vitamin C and containers keep the vitamin level stable from then on. Fiber and potassium, the study found, were about the same for canned, frozen and fresh products.

Holland sought comment on the issue from the Stanislaus County UC Cooperative Extension nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor Terri Spezzano.

"Anything to increase fruit and vegetable intake this time of year -- fresh, frozen or canned -- is a positive thing," she was quoted in the article.

The human side of UC Cooperative Extension

Two newspaper accounts this week touched on the human side of UC Cooperative Extension. Food shopping savvy was the focus of an article in the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, in which the daughter of a veteran UCCE nutrition educator created a blueprint for people trying make ends meet in the new economy, the story said.

Gerardo and Briana Fernandez shared their personal financial trouble with reporter Jeremy Hay. Gerardo, a general contractor, saw his income slashed in half in the weak economy. The couple realized that, between eating out and grocery shopping, food was gulping $600 from their monthly budget. 

Sound shopping skills learned from Biana's mother, Wanda Tapia, the assistant interim county director for Sonoma County UC Cooperative Extension, helped the couple slice their monthly food costs down to about $300, and at the same time eat a more healthful diet.

For example, Tapia taught her daughter and son-in-law how to create a "reality-based" shopping list.

"You know what's in your cupboard, so you're not going to the store and buying something you already have, that's wasting money," Tapia was quoted. "You want to know what you have in your cupboard now, and your shopping list should only be those items that you need to complete your menu."

Other money-saving suggestions included:

• Watch store sales and clipping coupons
• Select nutritious fruits and vegetables
• Resist the seduction of buying in bulk
• Don't shop hungry

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Two 4-H members were featured prominently in a Santa Paula Times story about their participation in a coastal cleanup program. Selena Hurtado and Rayanna Rodriguez, with leader Carole Butler, picked up three large bags of trash totaling over 30 pounds at Oil Piers beach in Ventura. According to the story, the Mupu 4-H team collected more than 150 cigarette butts, 45 glass beer bottles, clothes, a pillow, towels, toys, food wrappers and aluminum cans.

UC nutrition educators reach 32,000 in one fell swoop

Nutrition information was extended to more than 30,000 Shasta County residents today in a prominent Redding Record Searchlight food story with information sourced entirely from UC Cooperative Extension educators.

Shasta County food stamp nutrition educator Lori Coker and nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor Concepcion Mendoza explained in the 850-word article how to add whole grains to one's diet and why it is important.

"You have to read the labels," Coker told freelance writer Debra Moore. The story included a side bar suggesting readers look for products with the first ingredient listed as "whole grain," "whole wheat," "100% whole grain," "100% whole kernel" or "100% percent whole wheat."

Eating whole grains, the educators said, has health and weight control benefits.

"Eating whole grains reduces the risk of heart and other diseases," Coker was quoted. "It also aids digestion and gives you more sustained energy. It eliminates the crash and burn."

"If you eat the appropriate amount of carbs, you won't gain weight," Mendoza was quoted.

 

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