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Posts tagged: Childhood Obesity

Big Day in the Big D – 154 schools receive HealthierUS School Challenge awards

Students from Thomas A. Edison Middle Learning Center perform the dance/exercise routine they did during the recent Let's Move! national event.

Students from Thomas A. Edison Middle Learning Center perform the dance/exercise routine they did during the recent Let's Move! national event.

Cross posted from the Let’s Move! blog.

May 25 was a fabulous day in Dallas as I presented 154 HealthierUS School Challenge awards to schools of the Dallas Independent School District – the greatest number to a single school district thus far. 78 schools received gold awards and another 76 earned bronze level awards.  And, Texas leads the nation with 228 out of 1155 schools in 42 states that have earned awards. Read more »

Celebrating the Western Regional Office Summer Sunshine Award Winners!

A participant enjoys an apple fresh from the tree during a Boys and Girls Club field trip to a local farm.

A participant enjoys an apple fresh from the tree during a Boys and Girls Club field trip to a local farm.

Cross posted from the Let’s Move! blog:

Summer Food Service Program – in the middle of winter?

That question is a common one when we talk about the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). During the school year, many children receive free and reduced-price breakfast and lunch through the School Breakfast and National School Lunch Programs. What happens when school lets out? Hunger is one of the most severe roadblocks to the learning process. The Summer Food Service Program is designed to fill that nutrition gap and make sure children can get the nutritious meals they need. Read more »

Does Hunger take a Summer Break?…Not in San Francisco

Nick offers the salad he prepared from the garden to his clubmates

Nick offers the salad he prepared from the garden to his clubmates

Cross posted from the Let’s Move! Blog:

I recently visited the Willie Mays Boys and Girls Club to find out from the children what participating in USDA’s Summer Food Service Program means to them.  Year-round, afternoons at the Club means the children get to cook a healthy bean and kale soup, with fresh ingredients they grow in the Club’s Edible Schoolyard.  It also means that on a cool winter day a few blocks away from the San Francisco Bay, children brave the weather to water and tend to their garden knowing the strawberries will soon be ready to eat.  For Rena, the first strawberry that she ever ate came from the Edible Schoolyard, where she planted it. Now, of course, strawberries are her favorite food. Read more »

Meeting the Nutritional Needs of the Nation’s Schoolchildren

Cross-posted from the Let’s Move! Blog:

Ensuring our nation’s schoolchildren have the necessary nutrition to learn, grow, and thrive is commitment that we take very seriously at U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). On the heels of the historic passage of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, USDA has now released a proposed rule to enhance the quality of school meals by requiring more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat milk in our national school meals programs.  In addition to these healthy offerings, schools will have new standards to limit the levels of saturated fat, sodium, calories, and trans fats in those same meals.

As children now eat as many as two meals a day at school, it’s clear that the school food environment plays a more vital role in their health and welfare.  The science-based recommendations are, in fact, consistent with an Institute of Medicine report on improving the health of children. Read more »

Chefs on the Move to Help Improve Child Nutrition

Cross-posted from the Let’s Move! Blog:

Last June, First Lady Michelle Obama along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched a call to action for chefs across the nation to join the battle against childhood obesity. The program, called Chefs Move to Schools, helps to partner chefs with local schools in their communities as part of the Let’s Move! initiative.  Since June, we have seen chefs and schools across the country form new friendships and develop delicious meals in an effort to improve nutrition. Read more »

Mc Kinney’s Minshew Elementary School Achieves Gold in USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge

Students at Minshew Elementary School celebrated the receipt of the gold award in the HealthierUS School Challenge by singing about healthy foods.

Students at Minshew Elementary School celebrated the receipt of the gold award in the HealthierUS School Challenge by singing about healthy foods.

On December 16, I had the privilege of visiting McKinney, Texas to recognize Minshew Elementary School for achieving gold in the USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge. I presented the award to the school at an assembly with the students, the Mayor and the district superintendent.   I also had the pleasure to meet and congratulate the cafeteria staff and others on their achievement.  The children at the school performed a dance routine and invited the adults to join them.  I danced so much that I got my workout for the day!  It was wonderful to see the children exercise and have fun at the same time. Read more »