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Another step in Michelle Obama’s campaign to fight childhood obesity is to urge the nation’s largest food companies to make their food products healthier by reducing fat, salt and sugar in their products. She is also requesting that these same companies reconsider directing their marketing of unhealthy foods to children.

At a meeting of the Grocery Manufacturers Association last week, Michelle Obama told the food industry “to not just tweak around the edges but entirely rethink the products you are offering, the information that you provide about these products, and how you market those products to our children,” she said.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association, which counts Kraft Foods Inc., Coca Cola Co. and General Mills Inc. among its members, invited her to speak at its science forum this week.  Attendees gave her a standing ovation.

Welcoming the first lady and helping implement her campaign against childhood obesity could have its advantages. The food industry is in a situation where their profits are expected to decrease in the coming year, due to a child nutrition bill that is moving through Congress that could potentially remove all junk food in schools.

Former President Bill Clinton, who in 2005 partnered with the American Heart Association for a similar campaign against childhood obesity, said he was thrilled that Michelle Obama had joined the cause. “She’ll get visibility for it that I can’t get. She’s a lot younger than I am. She’ll relate better to a lot of the kids in the schools. They’ll relate better to her. I think it’s a really great thing for her to do this.”

Last week, Clinton announced that he has been able to reduce beverage calories shipped to schools by 88%.   His effort was aimed at replacing full calorie soft drinks with reduced calorie, smaller portion beverages in school cafeterias and vending machines.

Since the science forum last week, Kraft Foods Inc. has announced that they are going to make positive changes and reduce fat, salt and sugar in their products.  Michelle Obama expects that other companies will announce changes to their products in the coming weeks.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_michelle_obama_food_companies

In the state of the union address a few weeks ago, President Barack Obama announced that his wife, Michelle, has been laying the groundwork for over a year, developing a plan to fight childhood obesity.   To achieve this goal, Michelle Obama has requested the help of parents, schools, health professionals, sports and entertainment role models, business leaders and governments.

Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic that causes numerous health problems that can affect children now and as they grow into adults.  Currently 1 out of every 3 children is considered overweight.

There are several factors contributing to this epidemic including the following:

Busy parents opt for fast food rather than healthy family dinners at home.

Vending machines stocked with soda and candy bars.

Availability of high fat, high calorie snacks marketed towards children.

High cost of healthy options (there may be a link between obesity and low income).

Children rather watch TV or play games than play outside and exercise.

Clyde Yancy, president of the American Heart Association, said Obama’s focus will help generate the motivation needed to change attitudes.  Michelle Obama, known as a mother, motivator and role model is the perfect fit to get this job done.  Yancy admits Michelle has a tough job ahead of her, but he thinks that her goals can be achieved only with the help of several of organizations that can make substantive changes such as reducing fatty snacks and sodas in schools, providing better nutrition labeling of processed foods.

Michelle Obama’s plan to end childhood obesity includes the following:

Increase federal money to make cafeteria options healthier

Get the junk food out of school vending machines.

Expand time for school recess and physical education.

Offer federal incentives to low income families so that they can purchase healthier foods.

Stop companies from marketing junk food to children.

Pass laws to make restaurants to print nutrition information on menus.

Encourage health practitioners to do more medical screening for obesity in children.

Work with FDA to improve food labeling.

Provide behavior counseling to overweight kids.

Included in this list is the ‘School Lunch Program’ which is up for review by Congress this year.  Parents can control their child’s diet most of the time, but a huge weakness in her fight against obesity is the options available to kids when their parents aren’t around – at school.  To help with the School Lunch Program, President Barack Obama’s proposed budget calls for an additional 1 billion dollars each year for child nutrition programs.

Dora Rivas, president of the School Nutrition Association and director of food services for the Dallas public schools, said schools need more federal dollars to be able to use fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains into lunches, and to keep up with the growing numbers of children who qualify for free or reduced-cost meals.

Michelle Obama has a tough road ahead of her, but she said last month that she won’t be satisfied unless she knows she’s made a difference. “That is the legacy I want,” she said. “I want to leave something behind that we can say, because of this time that this person spent here, this thing has changed.”

SOURCE:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_first_lady_s_cause

SOURCE:  http://www.schoolnutrition.org/Blog.aspx?id=13585&blogid=564

Everyone is trying to eat healthier and better.  Whether it’s to lose the last 5 pounds or to lead a healthier lifestyle, many rely on nutrition labels found on the packaging of food to help them with weight management and to make informed, healthier choices. 

However, new research tells us that the nutrition labels found on food packaging may not be accurate.   Are we consuming more calories than we think?  More fat?  More sodium?  We asked just how accurate those food nutrition labels are.

A new study that unveiled the inaccuracies of nutrition labels was recently published in the Journal of the American Diabetic Association.  Their research found that prepared foods may contain an average of 8% more calories than their nutrition labels claim and restaurant meals may contain a whopping 18% more calories.  The study was based on discrepancies in caloric content, and further studies will take place on the accuracy of fat grams and sodium percentages.

The findings are the result of work conducted by Susan Roberts, professor of nutrition at Tufts University, and Jean Mayer, of Tufts’ USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging.

Roberts and Mayer studied 29 restaurants and 10 frozen-food products, taking care to select foods dieters would likely choose, which meant that each entrée contained fewer than 500 calories.   In the restaurants they chose items on the menu that had the lowest calories.  Back in the lab, their own tests revealed the high calorie differences between the nutrition labels and the actual caloric value of the entrees.

The restaurant selections contained 18% higher calories than they claimed and the frozen food entrees contained an 8% increase.   Despite their best efforts, many dieters will have trouble losing weight because of these discrepancies, which in one year, could lead to a 10 pound weight gain.

You may be asking – who is responsible for monitoring the food nutrition labels for accuracy?  Federal regulations are very strict about the accuracy of the net weight of a package of prepared food, which must be at least 99% of the advertised weight.  However, when it comes to caloric content, the regulation states that the count can be up to 20% off.  The study finding that most frozen food entrees contain an average 8% more calories than advertised is well within the legal limits.

As for restaurants, the federal government plays no role at all in checking the calorie claims in restaurants, which means that it’s up to the state government to monitor the labels.  Their current response to the situation is their funding and time is better used elsewhere.

If you are one of the many consumers trying to lose weight or manage a healthier lifestyle, be aware of the inaccuracies in your food nutrition labels.  You may be eating more calories than you think!

SOURCE:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100106/hl_time/08599195179800