Partnering With MyPyramid Helps Educate Americans on Healthy Living and Eating

Washington, DC. - June 10, 2008 - The American Council for Fitness and Nutrition (ACFN) has answered the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) call to join the Partnering with MyPyramid: Corporate Challenge. This collaboration showcases the role industry and government share in encouraging healthier eating and physical fitness in the American family.

"The Partnering with MyPyramid challenge complements ACFN's commitment to finding long-term solutions to the problem of obesity in America," notes ACFN CEO and President Susan Finn, PhD, RD, LD, FADA. "Our members and sponsors are fully engaged in helping families create and sustain healthier lifestyles and welcome the opportunity to work with USDA."

ACFN's Healthy Schools Partnership, which was successfully piloted in urban Kansas City primary schools in 2007 and early 2008, integrates nutrition education into the PE4Life physical education program. "The goal of this multifaceted approach is to reinforce the critical link between nutrition and physical education as expressed in MyPyramid. We are helping children grasp the fact that how much they eat and how active they are must be in balance for optimal health," Finn explains. "Children then take this knowledge home with them to influence family food choices." The Healthy Schools Partnership will expand to more schools in fall of 2008.

            "The increasing problems of obesity and poor eating habits among America's children are undoubtedly complicated issues, but what is often overlooked is the one place where a deliberate, positive trend toward change could take place tonight - the family home," notes Dr. Brian Wansink, executive director for USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. "By connecting with families to help them make better food choices and encourage more physical activity, we can make an immediate change with lasting impact."

For more information on the Partnering with MyPyramid: Corporate Challenge, visit www.mypyramid.gov. For more information on ACFN, visit www.acfn.org.

The American Council for Fitness and Nutrition is a non-profit organization that brings together food and beverage companies, associations, and health and nutrition. ACFN sponsors include Campbell Soup Company, The Coca-Cola Company, The Hershey Company, Grocery Manufacturers Association, J.M. Smucker Company, Mars, Inc. SaraLee Corporation, SaraLee Foundation, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company Foundation, Kraft Foods, General Mills, Inc. and Kellogg Company.

Lives at Risk: Our Overweight Children - 5 Part Series

In ways only beginning to be understood, being overweight at a young age appears to be far more destructive to well-being than adding excess pounds later in life. Virtually every major organ is at risk. The greater damage is probably irreversible. Read full story.

Nutrition Games Get Students Active!

Posted December 5, 2007

ACFN’s Healthy Schools Partnership pilot, conducted in collaboration with the American Dietetic Association Foundation and PE4life, is using nutrition themes within relay races to help students learn about the USDA MyPyramid. Read the full story.

Kraft and Coca-Cola Offer Triple Play Parents Game Plan

Posted December 5, 2007

 Many parents are looking for resources to help their children develop healthy nutrition and activity habits. The Triple Play Parents Game Plan, developed through a partnership between Kraft Foods, The Coca-Cola Company and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), provides information to help families keep children engaged in physical activity and focused on eating nutritious foods. Read the full story.

Regular Exercise Shown to Improve Thinking

Posted December 5, 2007

A new study presented during The Obesity Society’s Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans, Oct. 20-24, suggests that regular aerobic exercise can improve children’s decision-making functions and may be a critical aspect of enhancing children’s cognitive development. Read the full story.

Emotional Factors Related to Increased Weight Regain

Posted December 5, 2007

Researchers at The Miriam Hospital’s Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center found that dieters who eat in response to external factors had fewer problems with their weight loss, when compared to those who eat in response to internal or emotional factors. Read the full story.

ACFN’s Tips for a Healthier Holiday Season

Posted December 5, 2007

The American Council for Fitness and Nutrition (ACFN) offers seven suggestions that can help lead to a healthier holiday season and improved nutritional choices for families. As the winter months are traditionally filled with festive celebrations and limited access to outdoor activities enjoyed during warmer seasons, take time out now to plan ways to balance food intake with physical activity. Don’t wait until the New Year to start gaining the benefits associated with being more active and eating good foods. Read the full story.

Healthy School Lunches: Affordable and Well Received

The Winter 2007 issue of the Review of Agricultural Economics contains a study of 330 Minnesota school districts which concluded that despite commonly held views, healthy school lunches do not necessarily cost more or lead to reduced sales.

Findings from the study showed that lunch sales did not decrease when improvements were made, such as lowering the fat content of the meals served.

While more nutritious meals were found to have higher labor costs, savings associated with lower costs for processed foods offset those labor expenses. The researchers also found that expenses related to indirect costs, such as electricity and janitorial services, could be better spent on upgrading kitchens and training staff to make healthier meals. School districts often charge food service programs for indirect costs and reports on the study indicate that the authors call for tighter limits on what school districts charge.

The study did not look at national data, but similar trends are expected to occur in other states. More information about the research is available online at: www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-9353.2007.00380.x.

South Dakota Supplies Schools with Resources to Track Obesity

This year, 19 schools in South Dakota will receive equipment from the state’s Department of Health to track student height and weight for submission to the “School Height and Weight Report,” conducted in partnership with the Department of Education. Schools have submitted data for the survey each year since 1999, and since 2003, schools in the state have received 564 scales or measuring boards to help track childhood obesity.

The latest report, 2005-2006, includes data from 276 schools, which amounts to 31.5 percent of the students in the state, and finds that 33.8 percent of South Dakota’s students are overweight or at risk for becoming overweight.

Schools that receive equipment from the state are expected to contribute data to the report for three years. Kristin Biskeborn, MPH, RD, LN, state nutritionist for the Department of Health, says that the data helps the state develop a more complete picture of childhood obesity and also allows schools to make improvements at the local level.

More information and full reports are available online at: http://doh.sd.gov/SchoolWeight/.

Less Sleep Increases Overweight Risks for Children

A new study published in the November issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics concluded that ensuring adequate sleep may be one way to lower children’s risks of becoming overweight. The study analyzed data on nearly 800 children and found that students who slept less in both the 3rd and 6th grades were more likely to be overweight as 6th graders.

The researchers considered a variety of factors that may have affected the outcome of the study, such as lax-parenting, children’s body mass index (BMI) scores in the 3rd grade and maternal education; however, other factors like parents’ weight were not accounted for in the analysis.

Each hour of lost sleep meant that the chances of a child becoming overweight increased by 40 percent by the time the child reached 6th grade. Most of the benefits gained from additional sleep were reported to come from earlier bed times, rather than waking up later.

A variety of explanations for the findings have been discussed. For example, production of hormones may be altered in response to a lack of sleep and children may be less active when they are more tired.

Dr. Julie C. Lumeng from the Center for Human Growth and Development and the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases at the University of Michigan led the research, which pulled data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development.

More information is available at: www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2007/kidssleep.htm.

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