An increase in childhood obesity rates and a decline in healthful eating options have prompted a Los Angeles city official to propose a moratorium on new fast food restaurants in the city.

"The proposed ordinance, which takes a page from boutique communities that turn up their noses at franchises, is supported by nutritionists, frustrated residents and community activists who call restrictive zoning an appropriate response..."

Many experts have cited large discrepancies in the types of restaurants available in different parts of town as evidence that such a proposal is needed. Source: The Washington Post

Labels: fast_food, healthy_eating, legislation

Researchers have found that communities with an abundance of fast-food and convenience stores have much higher rates of obesity and diabetes.

"Dr. Francine Kaufman, one of the nation's leading childhood diabetes experts, said the new research demonstrates that staying healthy is not simply a matter of personal responsibility."

Dr. Kaufman works with programs that help small neighborhood markets buy refrigerators so they can sell fresh produce. Source: Detroit News

Labels: community, fast_food, junk_food

About 2,000 outraged parents joined forces with the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and persuaded the McDonald's corporation to end a Florida school district promotion. The promotion involved using Happy Meals to reward children who had good grades and attendance.

"Susan Pagan, a Winter Springs mother, raised a ruckus after her fourth-grade daughter brought home a report card from Red Bug Elementary that was emblazoned with Ronald McDonald and a plug for a free Happy Meal in exchange for good grades or attendance."

Pagan was joined in her efforts by Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, which rallied nearly 2,000 other parents from across the country. News media around the world picked up the story, and McDonald's withdrew its Made the Grade program shortly thereafter.

Labels: fast_food, influences, marketing

On average, Americans prepare home-cooked meals just two to three times per week. The rest of the time it's drive-thrus and take-outs. We have our reasons; "it doesn't cost that much more," "it saves me time," etc. But the truth is that eating out not only costs money, but can cost us - to some degree - our health.

"So if you don't gain time or save money by grabbing takeout, what benefits do you get from cooking at home? 'You'll eat better, cheaper and fresher at home,' [Meredith] Deeds said. 'You control portion sizes, and the content and quality you're providing your family,' said [Niquenya] Fulbright. She said these issues can be especially important in an era of rising childhood obesity."

Cooking at home also teaches children how to prepare and enjoy healthier meals, and gives the family some important quality time together.

Read more at JournalStar.com.

Labels: cooking, fast_food, healthy_eating

As concern over childhood obesity increases, more and more parents are choosing sit-down restaurants over their high-fat laden counter-parts; fast-food. But one look at a restaurant's kids menu and you realize that many sit-down restaurants offer the same unhealthy options. But there are ways to eat out and still ensure that your child's meal is healthy.

"One way to foster good eating is to ask for substitutions with the kids' meal, and say no to the 'bottomless soft-drinks' Christian said. Better yet, forgo the kids' menu and share your healthier adult meal with your child, she said."

Helping kids develop a taste for healthy foods now means they'll be more likely to make healthy food choices in their adult years.

Labels: childhood_health, fast_food, healthy_eating

Doctors at Johns Hopkins and other medical institutions have noticed a curious, if not alarming, increase in children with kidney stones. The painful condition may be a consequence of America's dependence on processed foods with a high-salt content.

The childhood obesity epidemic already has resulted in a dramatic rise in cases of Type 2 diabetes among young children. Fats and sugar are the main culprits in childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes - and the kidney stones may be the result of the other problem with fast food - too much salt. Though kidney stones are still not commonly found among children, specialists who once saw only a handful of cases each year now diagnose many times that number.

"'Five years ago, we used to see maybe a handful of children a year, maybe five or six,' said Dr. Yegappan Lakshmanan, a pediatric urologist at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. 'Now, it's five or six a month. Some are repeat patients, but it's definitely a trend.'"

Kidney stones, once found almost exclusively in adults, are tiny mineral deposits that can cause excruciating pain when they lodge in the urinary tract.

John Hopkins has even established a pediatric kidney stone clinic because of the increased incidence in children, as have the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee and the Harvard-affiliated Children's Hospital in Boston.

Labels: causes of childhood obesity, fast food, fast_food, overweight children