Rudd Sound Bites

Lions and Tigers and Twinkies - Oh My!

by Sarah Speers

Thanks to the numerous rumors I heard as a child that Twinkies had an indefinite shelf life, I never dared to bite into one. Unfortunately, Hostess knows that if there’s one way to get kids to beg mom and dad to buy the product that has supposedly been sitting on the store shelves for decades, it is to use beloved movie characters.

Rethinking Vitamins

by Camille Lizarribar

The Women’s Health Initiative study released last week found that taking multivitamins provided no benefits in lowering the risk of heart disease and cancers. This article in today’s NY Times offers an interesting summary of it and of other recent research that failed to find positive correlations between increased vitamin intakes and health benefits. In fact, some of these studies have found that higher levels of certain vitamins, for example Vitamin C, may have negative consequences that were previously unknown.

Here Comes the Blame Again…

by Camille Lizarribar

Yet another provocative headline, this time from Yahoo.com, stating “Parents Blamed for Childhood Obesity." (Caveat: this critique is focused on Yahoo’s reporting and framing of the story, since that is what most people will read, and not on the research study per se.) Researchers at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research have released a new study that found that “children tend to eat what their parents eat,” and that conclusion leads inevitably to the suggestion of a “parental contribution to the growing obesity problem among young children and teenagers.” A jump from ‘children eat like their parents’ (not a recent discovery) to ‘parents contribute to their children’s obesity’ is not a given, however. 

Fast Food in a Time-Stretched Society

by Megan Weinberg

I consider myself to be very health conscious. I just don’t always have the time to turn that awareness into practice. I do the best that I can, as many of us do, as a full-time working mom, homeowner, and wife. My husband and I strive to eat well and provide nutritious food for our 2 year old daughter. But I have to admit, it’s downright exhausting to come home every night and wonder “what can I make for dinner that’s healthy, quick, and tasty?” We try to prepare on weekends, making large amounts of food that can be portioned and reserved in the freezer for future meals. But it’s not always easy to do that with competing chores and activities. If we make food all weekend, that doesn’t leave much time for exercise…and if we can fit in a jog or two on top of that, when are we going to do the 6 loads of laundry…and when are we going to play with our baby daughter who misses us at daycare all week… and are we ever going to get to SIT DOWN for 5 minutes?!?!??

Choose Your Battles

by Andrea Wilson

Who ever heard of community organizing and activism to get unhealthy food and beverages into schools?

In 2007, a law was passed setting standards for fat, sugar and calorie content and serving size of food and beverages sold in Oregon schools. Recently, Oregon teachers testified in front of the state’s House Education Committee in favor of House Bill 2419, which would exempt employee areas such as teachers’ lounges from these standards.

Public Schools Still Need More Funding and Less Junk-Food and Sugary Beverages

by Jennifer Pomeranz

I hope that South Carolina approves a bill to improve school foods and that more states followed its lead to remove non-nutritious foods in schools. A South Carolina House subcommittee recently approved a measure aimed at curbing the availability of junk food in schools. If passed, schools would be required to remove sugar-laden beverages and fatty snacks sold in cafeterias and vending machines and could replace them with what the legislature considers more nutritious beverages and snacks, including water, fruit juice, milk and granola bars. In addition, the law would require school meals to meet or exceed federal nutrition guidelines. According to this article, the mandate also would extend to vendors that sell food within the school, including fast-food franchises. The bill is intended to reduce childhood obesity. Of course concerns over lost profits from outside vendors remain. However, the real solution is for the federal government to increase funding of all public schools so they do not need to rely on outside food and beverage sales and marketing to carry on their educational purposes.

The Best Mountain Dew Can Do Is Be the Unhealthy Part of an Otherwise Healthy, Balanced Diet.

by Marlene Schwartz

I have written about this issue before, but it astonishes me how reliably the soft drink industry, such as Pepsi most recently, relies on the argument that their products "consumed in moderation, can be part of a healthy, balanced diet."

Change4Life? More Like Scared2Eat

 by Jackie Thompson

Have you ever wondered what you’ll look like in 40 years?  If you’re a British child, the government has already done your research for you, and the answer is three disquieting words: obese, most likely.  At least this is the answer given by the newly launched, £275million government healthy-eating initiative called Change4Life.  The program predicts that 9 out of 10 British children will be overweight or obese by the year 2050, and it viscerally illustrates this point through the jarring juxtaposition of two photos one depicting 10 normal-weight children today, and another showing those same children, digitally altered to look like their 40-something, mostly obese, future selves.

The Dunkin Difference

by Gabrielle Grode

I recently returned from a trip to Chile and was surprised to see that Dunkin Donuts had taken up so much realty since my last visit a year ago. The stores were pretty busy with long lines. Most shocking were the sizes of the beverages I saw people purchasing. Many adults walked out of the store holding what appeared to be child size drinks! Few adults purchased the larger sizes. After some coaxing, the Dunkin employees agreed to give me cold beverage cups in each size—small, medium, large.

In or Out?

by Camille Lizarribar

Burger King’s recent advertising campaigns seem tailored to generate controversy (increasing brand/product visibility). Some examples are the Whopper Freakout and Whopper Virgins videos and the Whopper Sacrifice Facebook application. Much has already been said about these campaigns, particularly with the controversy fueled by the Whopper Virgins’ central conceit (that a group of culturally unsullied people -aka. the ‘virgins’ - would provide an ‘objective’ assessment of which burger tastes better: BK’s or McD’s), and Facebook’s request that BK remove the Whopper Sacrifice application (that allowed you to sacrifice ten friends for a free Whopper coupon).