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!

Welcome to the September 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!!!

This newsletter is a bit longer than usual, as it is my last as the
KNN Coordinator. I'm retiring on September 30, 2008. I sometimes
"rolled" things over from month-to-month so the newsletters didn't
get too long. So this time I just "rolled" everything into this last
newsletter.

Please join us at my last KNN meeting on September 12 at the
Prairieland Food Warehouse in Topeka. We'll send additional
information as the date gets closer, including a required
reservation. Lunch is provided, so we need an accurate count. Email
Sally Price (sprice@ksu.edu) if you have questions.

Olympic Pipe Band

If you watched the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics, you may have seen the Mains of Fintry Pipe Band. The Band was sworn to secrecy last September and had less than a year to prepare, including putting together enough funds to be able to travel to Beijing. With 16 of the 26 band members performing, ranging in age from 13-63, the band performed Scotland the Brave in front of nearly 100 thousand spectators and billions of TV viewers. Mains of Fintry Pipe Band Website (Some of you know that I play the bagpipes. Maybe our band will play at the next Olympics! One can dream . . . .)

New Policies for Poverty and Aging

Robin Talbert, president of the AARP Foundation, focuses on the need for nonprofit, government and philanthropic organizations to work together to help vulnerable groups fight poverty.

Understanding How Policy Changes Affect Women in Poverty

Phyllis Caldwell, president of Washington Area Women's Foundation,
introduces a new anti-poverty initiative called the Women's Economic
Security Collaborative and asserts the need to develop a "Poverty
Impact Statement."

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont recently asked his constituents on an
e-mail list to tell him how they are faring with the current
economic situation. Responses are sobering, and have been compiled
into a booklet available on this website:
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/qa/meetingqs.cfm

September is Hunger Action Month

A national movement to strengthen the fight against domestic hunger. Learn more about Hunger Action Month and how you can get involved in local and national activities to fight hunger. America's Second Harvest is changing its name to Feeding America. With a new brand, it will build support to feed 1
million more people each year; significantly increase participation
in federal nutrition programs; and inspire the public to support its
efforts.

Does it cost too much to eat healthy? Find your own best answer with
the new Thrifty Food Plan calculator. This calculator is a tool for
learning about tradeoffs between the nutrition quality and costs of
foods available in the United States. Your challenge is to create a
nutritious, affordable, and tasty food plan that meets your own
nutrition policy goals.
http://usfoodpolicy.blogspot.com/2008/08/does-it-cost-too-much-to-ea
t-healthy.html

(Note: You have to enter weekly food costs for 58 different food groups. I only got through a few before I gave up.)

The Center of Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) has updated the
USDA Food Plans (Thrifty, Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal) and
posted them at www.cnpp.usda.gov. The June 2008 cost of the Thrifty
Food Plan for the reference family of four is $588.30. From June
2007 to June 2008, the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan for the
reference family increased 8.5%. Cereal and cereal product prices
increased 9.6%; fresh vegetable prices, 8.4%; milk prices, 6.9%;
fresh fruit prices, 6.1%; and poultry prices, 2.8% over this time.
This is the largest June-to-June increase in the Thrifty Food Plan
since 1988-89, which had an 8.9% increase. When accessing the
website select the USDA Food Plans in the left panel.

FRAC released Hunger Doesn't Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition
Status Report 2008, its annual look at participation in the Summer
Nutrition Programs. The report, which gives data for all states and
looks at national trends, finds that the Summer Nutrition Programs
continue to fall short in reaching eligible low-income children.

http://www.frac.org/pdf/summer_report_2008.pdf or the press release
http://www.frac.org/pdf/release_summer_08.pdf

Summer Months May Accelerate Childhood Obesity, Experts Say

Although health experts often point to flagging physical education programs
and schools' unhealthy food offerings as primary culprits in the childhood obesity epidemic, recent studies suggest that the unstructured nature of summer vacation also may lead to childhood weight gain. Early Exposure to Fruits, Vegetables May Shape Future Dietary Habits, Study Finds A study published in the Wisconsin Medical Journal suggests that regularly exposing children to fresh fruits and vegetables can encourage them to try more of these foods, the Madison Capital Times reports.

Obesity Rates Now Exceed 25 Percent in More Than Half of States

Adult obesity rates increased in 37 states in the past year. Rates
rose for a second consecutive year in 24 states and for a third
consecutive year in 19 states. No state saw a decrease. Many
promising policies have emerged to promote physical activity and
good nutrition in communities, but they are not being adopted or
implemented at levels needed to turn around this health crisis. Read
the news release. Download full text of the report.

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is the Nation's second largest food and nutrition assistance program. In 2006, it operated in over 101,000 public and nonprofit private schools and provided over 28 million low-cost or free lunches to children on a typical school day at a Federal cost of $8 billion for the year. This report provides background information on the NSLP, including historical trends and participant characteristics. It also addresses steps being taken to meet challenges facing administrators of the program, including
tradeoffs between nutritional quality of foods served, costs, and
participation, as well as between program access and program
integrity. http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR61/

Family Day, a day to eat dinner with your children is September 22, 2008
http://www.kansasfamily.com/GetInvolved-FamilyDay.cfm Kansas Family
Partnership is implementing the Family Day campaign to help educate
families and create awareness that by having regular conversations
between children and parents/guardians, those conversations serve as
a prevention tool to help safeguard Kansas youth. The Center of
Excellence for Training and Research Translation announces the
availability of two new online training modules, Nutrition and
Health and Physical Activity and Health available at www.center-trt.org

These training modules are designed primarily for public health practitioners with a limited background in the fields of nutrition and/or physical activity and for those needing an update on current recommendations. These modules are available free of charge and take 2 to 3 hours to complete. A certificate of
completion is available for those interested in continuing education
credits.