Quantcast Vegetarian Starchildhood obesity

Tapped the movie

The producer behind Tapped, a film that examines the effects of the bottled water industry, Stephanie Soechtig, has teamed up with Katie Couric and producer of the environmental film, An Inconvenient Truth, Laurie David, to take a closer look at childhood obesity and its causes.

The Big Picture will follow children, aged 11-17, as they share their food experiences and weight issues through video diaries.

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Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama has expanded her Let’s Move! campaign to get America’s kids fitter to places where many children spend much time outside of school.

The Let’s Move! Child Care program provides daycare centers a checklist of standards to implement, from reducing television time during daycare to not serving sugary sodas to offering fresh fruit and vegetables with every meal.

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Dr. Neal Barnard

“I’m still waiting to see how serious the administration is. Even naming it “Let’s Move” suggests that the problem is that kids aren’t sweating enough, and I think that’s a mistake. Researchers have looked at the causes of childhood obesity and the changes in physical activity and diet. And the changes in physical activity, while there for some kids, are not enough to account for the increase in obesity. If you tell a kid you’ve got to exercise off the calories they just ate in six chicken nuggets, that child has to run 3-1/2 miles. In theory, you can force children to exercise off the calories we are stuffing down their throats, but the issue really is the input side.”

Dr. Neal Barnard, founder and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, on Michelle Obama‘s campaign to get kids fitter, Let’s Move!” Dr. Barnard, who follows a vegan diet, believes calorie counting is not necessary if people fill up on grains, beans, fruits and vegetables.

The PCRM recently unveiled its eating guidelines in what it calls the Power Plate. The Power Plate doesn’t recommend a definite number of servings from each food group, but simply advocates eating a completely plant-based diet, choosing foods from legumes, grains, fruits and vegetables on a daily basis.

And please don’t call him a vegan. Although he eats a plant-based diet, he said the word vegan, “sounds like I’ve got a red tie-dye shirt. What I say is that I follow a vegan diet. I use it as a word for foods, not people.”

Source

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Human Rights Campaign Los Angeles Gala

Jillian Michaels may scream, berate and boss people around on NBC’s The Biggest Loser, but she insists that’s not the way you should treat your kids if you’re trying to get them in shape.

“The Biggest Loser is about life-or-death confrontations. Last ditch attempts to get people back on track. Kids need positive reinforcement only,” Jillian explained to Parent Dish.

Getting kids involved with physical activities can be combined with nutrition, such as planting and growing your own vegetables in a backyard garden, suggests the pescatarian.

“Teach them about healthy goods to help them become a healthy grownup. Don’t make it about pounds or calorie counting. Involve them in the food. Let them start a little vegetable garden so they are invested. Challenge them to find fruits and veggies in their favorite colors and so on. This helps to keep health fun and make them feel in control of their choices.”

We can totally see the garden thing as a competitive, but positive experience for kids.

Team blue gets the green beans. Team red gets tomatoes.

Who can harvest more at the end of the season?

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Michelle Obama and local students harvest the White House kitchen garden in Washington

Michelle Obama gave a speech to the U.S. Conference of Mayors at the Capital Hilton this week which highlighted the need to combat childhood obesity.

The First Lady has taken a leadership role in encouraging healthier habits in children and adults.

Appearing on Sesame Street, she and Elmo urged children to eat more fruits and vegetables.

She showed up to support local and fresh produce at the nearby Farmers Market in D.C.

And according to Jocelyn Frye, the first lady’s domestic policy adviser, good habits start in the home–or at least in the yard of the home.

“We didn’t want to have a garden just to have a garden,” said Frye of the White House garden, according to the Washington Post. “It was a vehicle for talking about children’s health.”

Mrs. Obama’s ideas to reduce the childhood obesity epidemic include ensuring healthier options are in school lunches, encouraging more physical activity, increasing the availability of healthy food in every neighborhood and giving parents and kids better nutrition education.

Would a meat-free Monday be too much to ask for as well?

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