Tag Archive for: nutrition

Viewpoint: Nutrient warnings on Unhealthy Foods

JAMA Network 
Unhealthy diets, characterized by overconsumption of ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks, increase the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. A nutrient warning policy is a common-sense response to rising rates of diet-related disease. Nutrient warnings could help inform consumers, encourage the food industry to make healthier products, benefit public health, counteract certain industry marketing practices, and potentially improve health equity. Read the article

Why nutrition advice keeps changing

Psychology Today 

Over time, scientists are developing a better understanding of how food affects us. Nutrition is a fairly young science; the first studies tracking what people ate came in the late 1800s. We’re watching it grow up.  Read the article here

Fast food makes an unhealthy comeback among kids

Web MD 

After a period of improvement, U.S. kids are eating as much fast food as they were in the early 2000s, new government figures show. Researchers found that between 2003 and 2010, there was a decline in U.S. kids’ intake of fast-food calories — dipping from an average of 14% of daily calories, to just under 11%. By 2018, that figure was back up to 14%.  Read the article here

 

Mexico’s new warning labels on junk food meet supersized opposition from U.S., EU

Chronicle Herald 
The United States, European Union, Canada and Switzerland, home to some of the world’s biggest food companies, have pressed Mexico to delay upcoming health warnings on processed food and drinks, a World Trade Organization document showed. The Mexican standard, scheduled to take effect in October, will require front-of-pack nutrition labelling that clearly describes the health risks posed when those products are high in sugars, calories, salt, and saturated or trans fat. Read the article here

Study of supermarket meals gives food for thought

Medical Xpress 
A recent study in Australia found that supermarket ready-to-eat-meals generally should have been classified as unhealthy, but still received a passing grade from the Health Star ranking system.  Lead researcher Dr. Claire Pulker from the School of Public Health at Curtin University said 54 percent of the meals were found to be unhealthy according to the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating. As more people are buying these products due to COVID-19, it is important that they understand the health risks. Read more

Federal Court Strikes Down Trump Administration School Nutrition Rollbacks

Center for Science in the Public Interest

In a critical victory, a federal court struck down a rule by the Trump administration’s U.S. Department of Agriculture that rolled back nutrition standards on whole grains and sodium in school meals on the ground that the USDA failed to provide public notice of its plan to gut the standards. The Center for Science in the Public Interest and Healthy School Food Maryland brought the case in federal court in Maryland, represented by Democracy Forward.  Read the statement here.

plant-based-food-climate-change

Vancouver MP tables bill proposing national school food program for all

CBC British Columbia

Vancouver Kingsway MP Don Davies, the federal NDP health critic, introduced the School Food Program for Children Act on February 4. The bill would require the minister of health to develop a national school food program for all Canadian children at little or no direct cost to children and their families. “The last time the federal government seriously discussed implementing a national school food program was during Second World War,” Davies said. “So I think it’s long past time that we started taking a look at this. Read more

New healthy food pilot program coming to some P.E.I. schools

CBC PEI

A new healthy food program was rolled out at some P.E.I. schools on Monday February 3. The pilot project is the first step in the province’s promise to have a lunch program in place for students across the Island next fall. Organizers say there is a focus not just on healthy foods, but also reducing waste and sourcing food locally. The pilot programs will be offered on a pay-what-you-can model with a maximum price of $5 per day.  Read more

Teenagers campaign for ‘traffic light’ labels on food packaging

The Guardian

Bite Back 2030, a campaign group led by teenagers, is calling for traffic light-style front of pack labelling to be made mandatory in the UK. The group said progress on improving child health was stalling. “We want honest, simple and helpful labelling like the traffic light system out there on everything. And if food companies won’t do it voluntarily, we want the government to step up and step in. The UK should be leading by example, not falling behind,” said Bite Back 2030’s youth chair 16-year-old Christina Adane. Read more

Good nutrition means longer life, says Canadian study

CBC News

Postdoctoral fellow Fei Men and Prof. Valerie Tarasuk at the University of Toronto’s Department of Nutritional Sciences and colleagues used data from the Canadian Community Health Survey to compare longevity in people with food security to those who are marginally, moderately or severely food insecure. The focus of the study is food insecurity but at root, it’s about the health problems and mortality associated with poor nutrition.  Read the article here