At the beginning of the school year in elementary school, parents are instructed to send in only “healthy snacks”. Cut up veggies, fresh fruit snacks and low fat string cheese for example. The list forbids candy and excessive amounts of cookies and baked goods. I always marvel at how the rule doesn’t apply to the bi-weekly birthday parties (when kids bring in cupcakes decorated with candies or donut holes). When my boys reached middle school, the cafeteria oozed with chips, vending machines (pictured here), and ice cream treats. In high school, fund raising included candy sales and bake offs. The teenagers were given the freedom to eat lunch off campus. This often meant drinking a soda with a bagel or a slice of pizza (everyday for a month) or skipping lunch and pocketing the money. So I am very interested in following Michelle Obama’s campaign to end childhood obesity. Where will this process lead?
At a meeting this past week of the Grocery Manufacturers Association (which includes Coca Cola Co., Kraft, Del Monte Foods Co. and General Mills), Mrs. Obama strongly recommended that food manufactures “step it up” and put less fat, salt and sugar in their products. She was quite direct in her statements: ” We need you not to just tweak around the edges but entirely rethink the products you are offering, the information that you provide about these products, and how you market those products to our children”. Let’s not forget that in 2005 President Bill Clinton along with the American Heart Association tried to campaign against childhood obesity. His efforts did not seem to be met with the same enthusiasm as Mrs. Obama’s.
This push towards combating childhood obesity is coming at a time when the Food and Drug Administration is also considering stricter guidelines on food labels. The Nutrition Facts Labels (on food products) can be very confusing, and often misleading. Portions sizes are not uniform (look at the cereal boxes in your pantry). In New York State, there is also a proposed tax on “soda” and “sugary drinks”. Whatever your point of view on the soda tax, it will discourage children (on a tight budget) from purchasing these non-nutritious beverages due to price.
Michael Lynton, the chairman and chief executive officer for Sony Pictures recently suggested that movie theaters offer healthier snacks “to help fight obesity”. He backed up his suggestion when he told theater owners that a survey by the studio at 26 U.S. theaters found that 2/3 of moviegoers say they would purchase healthier snacks if they were available. Maybe there will be a time where we don’t have to carry large bags full of sliced apples, air popped popcorn, low fat granola bars unsalted nuts and peanut butter on celery sticks into movie theaters! And guess who offered to help advise the movie theater concession efforts? You guessed it… former President Clinton and the American Heart Association. (Maybe they should have a nutritionist on that panel this time around). The point is that from food manufacturers to company executives, the need to address childhood obesity is evident.
I can only hope that the battle against childhood obesity becomes a true group effort. As a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator I have given many talks, and participated in many educational programs in school districts, Scout Troops, and foster care programs to offer suggestions on how to improve a child’s nutritional health. But our children’s nutritional health needs to be a joint effort, and it is very difficult to battle food companies and junk food promotion in the media. The campaign to fight childhood obesity is also promoting increased physical activity for our children. If food and snack choices in schools are actually appealing to kids, I believe given the choice (and with adequate education for children and parents or caregivers), we can begin to successfully fight childhood obesity and help prevent many cases of Type 2 diabetes. Let’s feed our children well. After all, they are our future!
My 21 year old son is one of those unusual people who was born wanting to eat healthy foods and run, bike, jump and scale walls. He doesn’t seem to desire cookies or chocolate and would choose salad and salmon over a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich any day of the week. This kid would rather exercise than watch a movie or play a video game. His job is physically demanding, and he prepares his breakfast and lunch everyday. He is amazed that the guys he works with buy pastries and sugary coffee drinks for breakfast, fast food and soda for lunch and munch on chips and cookies all afternoon. “Why would anyone spend all that money for junk food?” he asks. He realizes that if you eat well and move at work you’ll have more stamina and be in a much better mood when you get home.
We are constantly bombarded with conflicting nutrition and diet information. In the 1990′s researchers were sure the answer to all our health concerns was to eat “low fat” foods. In the decade that followed “low carb” was the way to go. While these points can be argued, there is one nutrition tip that has stays constant. EAT BREAKFAST! 
