Posted by Dave Noble, Director, Let's Move Cities and Towns on January 24, 2011
On Thursday, January 13th, the Let’s Move team co-hosted, along with ServiceNation, a gathering of over 40 service leaders from across the country to brainstorm ways the national service community to be engaged in the effort to end childhood obesity. Representatives from youth service organizations, physical activity groups, city governments, and national non-profits explored each of the Let’s Move pillars and developed initiatives for volunteers to plug themselves into at the county, city and town level.
Posted by Shellie Pfohl, Executive Director, President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition on January 24, 2011
Active gaming (e.g., EA SPORTS Active, Wii Fit, etc.) is one way technology can encourage and promote physical activity and meet youth and adults wherever they are on the ability spectrum.
Posted by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on January 21, 2011
More than 23 million people in America live in food deserts, which are defined as urban neighborhoods and rural towns without ready access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food. This lack of access makes it impossible for families across the nation to receive a nutritious diet, and furthers them from being able to lead a healthy lifestyle. Without access to healthy food, these hardworking men and women are at risk to higher levels of obesity, and other diet-related illness, such as diabetes and heart disease.
Posted by Timothy Thole, Senior Program Specialist in the FNS Western Regional Office on January 21, 2011
I recently visited the Willie Mays Boys and Girls Club to find out from the children what participating in USDA's Summer Food Service Program means to them. Year-round, afternoons at the Club means the children get to cook a healthy bean and kale soup, with fresh ingredients they grow in the Club’s Edible Schoolyard. It also means that on a cool winter day a few blocks away from the San Francisco Bay, children brave the weather to water and tend to their garden knowing the strawberries will soon be ready to eat. For Rena, the first strawberry that she ever ate came from the Edible Schoolyard, where she planted it. Now, of course, strawberries are her favorite food.
Posted by Robin Schepper, Executive Director, Let’s Move! on January 20, 2011
Over 470 mayors signed up to make their cities Let’s Move Cities and Towns. As a Let’s Move City or Town, mayors commit to making lasting policy changes, or launching new programs, in the four pillars of Let’s Move! that call for local action: reducing the risk of obesity in early childhood; improving nutrition in schools; increasing access to fresh affordable food; and increasing physical activity.
Posted by Dr. Rebecca Bunnell, ScD, Med, Program Director, Communities Putting Prevention to Work on January 20, 2011
A healthy lunch is becoming easier to find in San Antonio, Texas. School cafeterias across the city will soon be home to 220 salad bars, thanks to a new partnership with Let’s Move! and the San Antonio Mayor’s Fitness Council.
Posted by Cordelia Fox, Public Affairs Director, USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Western Region on January 19, 2011
Earlier this fall, in conjunction with International Chefs Day, Chef Melinda Burrows had the opportunity to team with Fremont Elementary School in Alhambra, California, to help launch their Chefs Move to Schools program.
They did so in grand style. With three school assemblies focusing on harvests, the popular event centered around chef-led demonstrations featuring spaghetti squash, pumpkins, and other varieties of healthful foods.
Posted by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on January 14, 2011
Ensuring our nation’s schoolchildren have the necessary nutrition to learn, grow, and thrive is commitment that we take very seriously at U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). On the heels of the historic passage of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, USDA has now released a proposed rule to enhance the quality of school meals by requiring more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat milk in our national school meals programs. In addition to these healthy offerings, schools will have new standards to limit the levels of saturated fat, sodium, calories, and trans fats in those same meals.
Posted by Frances Ashe-Goins, Acting Director, Office on Women’s Heath, US Department of Health and Human Services on January 12, 2011
Over the past 10 months, more than 115,000 pregnant and new mothers have taken an important step to improve their health and the health of their babies. They’re subscribing to”text4baby,“ a free text-messaging service from the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition.
Posted by Dr. Rebecca Bunnell, ScD, Med, Program Director, Communities Putting Prevention to Work on January 12, 2011
Biking can be a fun and fitness-friendly way to travel, but only if you know how to ride. Thanks to lessons in bike riding, safety and repair, more than 2,500 young Bostonians can now pedal like pros.
