The purpose of this newsletter is to provide quick
contacts to KNN partner agencies and to other resources that might be
helpful to our partners. You should be able to read this newsletter in
less than 5 minutes – that’s our goal!
KNN July 2008 Newsletter
Welcome to the July 2008 issue of KNN’s email newsletter. Please
visit our web site at www.kansasnutritionnetwork.org. We
are always interested in how our partners are “partnering” to improve
nutrition and physical activity education throughout Kansas.
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Upcoming KNN Meetings and Other Important Dates!!!
September 12, 2008 at Prairie Land Foods in Topeka
The next KNN meeting is September 12 in Topeka at the Prairie Land Food warehouse. More information will follow. The meeting is from 10am - 2 pm, lunch provided. Please save the date!!
The USDA, Food and Nutrition Service has released a new publication
that will help kids, parents, and caregivers to Eat Smart and Play
Hard. This new resource will also assist the target audience in
putting the new Dietary Guidelines and MyPyramid recommendations
into action. Discover the Create Healthy, Active Celebrations on the
FNS web page at:
http://www.fns.usda.gov/eatsmartplayhardhealthylifestyle/QuickandEas
y/celebrations.pdf
Governors Association Center for Best Practices recently released a
new issue brief focusing on the policies and programs adopted by
state leaders to combat poverty. State Strategies looks at a variety
of methods and explores how states can effectively fight poverty by
using these tactics in the combination best suited to the needs of
their constituency. Jump in State EITCs Results from Foundation-Funded Efforts. This is a look at joint efforts to establish or expand state Earned Income Tax Credits, and how the lessons learned from this endeavor can be instructive for foundations interested in working at the state-level to improve the lives of low-income families.
hunger, Hunger in America 2006, painted an alarming picture of
hunger among the elderly, as well as the necessity of programs that
provide them with much-needed food-assistance. The study found that
America's Second Harvest Network serves nearly 3 million people age
65 or older. Continue>>>
"What the Next President Could Do: End Child Hunger" by Joel Berg
and Tom Freedman
In a commentary for Spotlight, Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger and Tom Freedman, former senior advisor to President Clinton and president of Freedman Consulting, present six ideas to energize the fight against childhood hunger. U.S. Childhood Obesity Rates Stabilize, CDC Researchers Find A study in the Journal of the American Medical
Association suggests that U.S. childhood obesity rates may be leveling off after surging for more than two decades.
Child obesity poses short- and long-term health risks and may have negative social and economic consequences in adulthood. This study uses data on 8,000 children followed from kindergarten through third grade as part of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class to examine predictors of persistent childhood overweight and associated academic and socioemotional outcomes.
Growing Number of Obesity-Prevention Programs Targeting Toddlers
In an effort to curb rising childhood obesity rates, pediatricians are enrolling children as young as 2 in weight-management programs, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Policy-Makers Nationwide Made a Significant Effort to Address Obesity in 2007, the Report Indicates Many challenges remain at all levels, the report adds, and further efforts are necessary to increase children's access to healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity and to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic. The report was prepared by the Albemarle State Policy Center and funding was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Download full
text of the report.
mitigate the rise in obesity and other diet-related health conditions in the U.S. depend on an understanding of Americans' eating patterns. Eating patterns encompass not only what and how much people eat, but also when and where they eat, how long they spend eating or snacking, and whether they dine alone or with others.
Market Expanding for Video Games Targeting Obesity and Chronic
Diseases A growing number of computer and video game developers are
working with health care companies and medical researchers to create games designed to prevent obesity and other related conditions, the Baltimore Sun reports.
Critics of the Food Stamp Program point to higher rates of obesity among some low-income populations and question whether the program may have been too successful in boosting food consumption. A review by ERS of the effects of food stamp participation on body weight found that participation does not increase the likelihood of being overweight or obese for men or children. Women are the only group for which multiple studies show a potential link between food stamp participation and an increase in obesity and body weight, although
this effect appears to be small.
http://www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/June08/Features/FoodStampsObesity.htm
Dietary Guidelines Fact Sheet resources especially for school food service can be found on FNS' web site at:
http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/ under the link "Dietary Guidelines Fact Sheets."