Interesting and Fun
McDonald’s has received a lot of news coverage this week! Here’s the round-up:
- Mark Bittman explains that McDonald’s “healthy” oatmeal has more sugar than a Snickers bar and more calories than a McDonald’s hamburger.
- Fast food restaurants like McDonald’s saw a big rise in spending by ultra rich consumers last year.
- Ronald McDonald sidelined as the chain touts lattes, not kids meals
- While McDonald’s says it’s just a toy, health experts have branded the burger-flipping make-believe set as “disturbing”
And check out The Daily Beast’s slide show of “shocking fat equations”. Did you know that one bag of Pop Secret Movie Theater Butter Popcorn has just as much fat as 3 Krispy Kreme Donuts?!
Tools for Equitable Neighborhood Change The Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy released a web-based Policy Toolkit for Equitable Transit-Rich Neighborhoods which describes three types of policy tools: planning, housing market, and transportation management. Click here for a report summarizing diversity in transit-rich neighborhoods.
Oregon Public Health Week: April 4-8, 2011 In celebration of National Public Health Week, the Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division collaborates with community partners to coordinate a week of events, including five national speakers and four local speakers, presentations and trainings, contests, healthy activities, and other exhibits.
The Chronic of Higher Education provides a new interactive map with county-level data on the proportion of U.S. adults with a bachelor’s degree over time.
Reports & Articles
New Legislation on Nutrition Education, February 2011
The “Healthy Children through School Nutrition Education Act” would require all schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program to provide at least 50 hours of nutrition education each year as part of its wellness policies. Currently most elementary school children only receive 13 hours per year.
Poor Habits, Not Genetics Cause Childhood Obesity Health Day, February 3, 2011 A new study suggests that poor eating and activity habits are the causes for most cases of childhood obesity, rather than genetics.
Smart Food: Give Cafeterias a Psychology Lesson, Boston Globe, February 27, 2011 In the growing national push to improve school lunches, reformers typically start with the food – revamping menus to boost whole grains and jettison cookies. Researchers think that schools can encourage healthier eating using cheaper, easier and more kid-friendly fixes.
Chocolate Milk at Every Meal: Unhealthy Military Mess Halls, Slate, February 28, 2011 The Army’s food program mandates that soldiers have access to eggs-made-to-order, three types of bread, three types of meat, six kinds of cereal, no fewer than one potato dish, and at least one pastry at breakfast alone. Chocolate milk is mandated at every Marine meal and four types of soda must flow at lunch and dinner.
Drinking Soda May Increase Your Blood Pressure, NPR, March 3, 2011 Researchers found that people drinking more than one soda or other sugar-sweetened beverage a day had higher blood pressure, and that it kept going up the more they drank.