| French paradox: Why U.S.is fatter
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- The French may not get as fat as Americans despite cheese, pate and pastries, because they use internal cues to stop eating, a U.S. and French study found.
Senior author Brian Wansink of Cornell University, executive director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, and Pierre Chandon, of INSEAD, a business school in France, said that the French use internal cues -- such as no longer feeling hungry -- to stop eating.
Americans tend to use external cues -- such as whether their plate is clean, they have run out of their beverage or the TV show they're watching is over, Wansink said.
The study, an analysis of questionnaires from 133 Parisians and 145 Chicagoans about how they decide when to stop eating, may explain why body mass index varies across people and potentially across cultures, the study said.
Recalled beef puts Snohomish County schools to work
At lunchtime on Friday, Barbara Lloyd helped toss half a ton of hamburger patties, beef Rib-B-Que, beef crumbles, meatballs and country beef steak strips into the garbage piles at the Mountlake Terrace transfer station.
The meat, intended for school lunches in Edmonds, was taken from freezers as part of the nation's largest meat recall ever. Schools in Washington have until Monday to destroy the recalled beef, which came from a California slaughterhouse.
"I personally was throwing the cases," said Lloyd, food service director for the Edmonds School District. "It's a sickening feeling to watch all of this good nutrition go down the drain because something in the pipeline went wrong, but it had to be done."
Hundreds of thousands of pounds of beef are being dumped in landfills, covered with bleach or, in some cases, sent to plants that may process them into dog food or glue.
USDA hold on beef has little impact on PBC schools
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's administrative hold on ground beef processed by the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. had little impact on Palm Beach County schools. "School menus were only affected one day," said a news release issued by the county School District. Lori Dornbusch, assistant director of site-based operations, said a "sparse" number of schools had to substitute chicken, turkey or other federally acceptable food item for beef on one day. She said she did not know if any schools in Boca Raton or Delray Beach were affected. USDA placed an administrative hold on all Hallmark/Westland products because of potential violations of regulatory requirements and contractual terms as a supplier of products to the federal food and nutrition programs.
Police Bust Super Bowl Betting Pool
Police made a gambling bust in Far West Bexar County Friday morning.According to San Antonio Police Department Vice Unit Coordinator Lieutenant Mike Gorhum, they received information that an illegal Super Bowl gambling pool was being circulated by an Northside School District employee.Detectives followed up on the tip and obtained enough information to obtain search warrants. Those warrants were executed Friday morning at a home in 4400 block of Tamaron Knoll, near the Bexar County/Medina County line and at the NISD Child Nutrition Warehouse at 7500 Mainland Drive.Officers seized approximately $20,000 in cash, numerous betting numbers related to the gambling pool, and computers during their search.Lt. Gorhum said possible criminal charges that may be filed range from organized crime to Class C gambling.
DePue wins award for breakfast program
Nutrition educator Jennifer DeHoog (center) presents DePue School District's cafeteria director Elizabeth Fox with an award check at Wednesday's school board meeting. DeHoog praised Fox for creating an innovative breakfast program and said DePue won the grand prize out of 25 applicants. DeHoog called DePue's 26 percent increase “amazing." (BCR photo/Barb Kromphardt) .
Study Spotlights 'Exercise-Friendly' Day-Care Centers
"Childhood obesity is an epidemic that threatens the future health of our nation. We know that about 57 percent of all 3- to 5-year-olds in the United States attend child-care centers, so it's important to understand what factors will encourage them to be more active, and, hopefully, less likely to become obese," study co-author Dianne Ward said in a statement. Ward is director of the intervention and policy division in the nutrition department at University of North Caroline at Chapel Hill School of Public Health. In their study, Ward's team evaluated the physical activity levels of children at 20 child-care centers in North Carolina. They found that children did more moderate and vigorous physical activity if the child-care center: had more portable play equipment, such as balls, jump ropes, hula hoops and riding toys; offered more opportunities for indoor and outdoor active play; and provided physical activity training and education for staff and students.
Waterboarding legal when CIA used it
Department of Agriculture should provide a loud and clear wake-up call that federal inspection is not adequate to ensure a safe meat supply ("A gap in food safety," Feb. 19). This largest meat recall in U.S. history was brought about because of an animal rights organization's undercover video showing California slaughterhouse workers using kicks, electric shock, high-pressure water hoses and a forklift to force sick or injured animals onto the killing floor. USDA regulations prohibit sick animals from entering the food supply, because of the high risk of contamination by E. coli, salmonella or mad cow disease. About 37 million pounds of the recalled meat went to school lunch and other federal nutrition programs since October 2006, and "almost all of it is likely to have been consumed," according to a USDA official.
Schools remind parents of reduced-cost meals
Collier County's public school district is reminding parents and guardians that reduced-price breakfasts and lunches are available at each public school. The price of lunch in the elementary schools is $1.85 and in the secondary schools is $2.10. Breakfast for students at all grade levels is $1. Low-income families and those faced with difficult financial situations may be eligible to receive school meals either free or at a reduced price and their child's meal status will be confidential. To find out if a child qualifies, visit www.collier.k12.fl.us/foodservice/frlunch/ and click on the "Income Chart" link on the left side. If you qualify, print the online meal application, full in the requested information and mail the completed application to: The Department of Nutrition Services, 5775 Osceola Trail, Naples, FL 34109.
Dietary exercises take students from brainstorms to brain freezes
There was a whole lot of slurping going on at Franklin School on Thursday. And there may have been a few children suffering from brain freeze.For the second time this year, lunchtime was turned into a lively nutrition lesson as kids participated in a "Mix It Up" activity focused on the benefits of eating fruit. Their reward for paying attention? A frozen 5-ounce serving of a "strawberry whirl" or "pomegranate paradise" smoothie from Jamba Juice."It doesn't just taste good, it tastes really good!" said first-grader Raghav Bangalore.During each lunch session, students were randomly assigned to one of six tables and asked to brainstorm different ways to eat a banana, apple, cantaloupe, strawberries, raspberries or pomegranate.Fifth-graders Kole Bartley and Kieley Trempy found themselves sitting at the "pomegranate table." They said they loved pomegranates and described the taste as between sweet and sour."You have to eat the seeds," said Kieley, to nods of agreement from Kole.
AINA makes a school subject out of gardening
He could not make a connection between the carrot in his hand and the orange cubes in a frozen mix of peas and carrots. "That's kind of scary, that kids these days have never tasted or seen" a fresh carrot and think food comes from the supermarket, says Betty Gearen, co-director of a new program called AINA in the Schools. The Kokua Hawaii Foundation originated the AINA program, whose name means "land" in Hawaiian, and also is the acronym for its mission: Actively Integrate Nutrition and Agriculture in Schools. The program is now in effect at Waialae Charter and Sunset and Aikahi Elementary schools for the second year. The AINA program has turned the garden into a classroom for 200 or so kids at Waialae. "They just love us -- they give us hugs" when they see Gearen and her helpers coming for bimonthly lessons, she said.
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