September 14th, 2010 by Maria Gifford in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Interviews, Research, True Stories
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Appearing as a Second Life 3D virtual-world avatar at Mayo Clinic’s “Transform 2010” symposium (watch the video here), Mrs. Q — a teacher and the anonymous author of the blog “Fed Up With Lunch: The School Lunch Project” — told the story of how her unique health mission has come to be. She’s determined to help people understand just how sick our “healthy” school lunches really are.
Mrs. Q has sparked the interest of child health advocates around the country. Thanks to programs like First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move Initiative” and Jamie Oliver’s “Food Revolution,” the nation is paying more attention to childhood obesity and school lunch reform.
Mrs. Q’s blog was started because of her own experiences with school meals after she ate the food prepared at school because she forgot her lunch at home. She keeps her identity a secret due to fear of losing her teaching job. Read more »
February 5th, 2010 by Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
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Bloomberg recently posted that the New York school system is going to eliminate whole milk from their cafeterias to cut calories. 4.6 billion calories and 422 billion grams of fat will be eliminated from the menu by this plan. A good plan for the kids involved. Well, at least a good start.
As the post notes, schools nationwide are working diligently to tweak menus and offer healthier alternatives for kids in all grades from elementary school to high school. Some schools, such as the school district my kids attend, use electronic payment systems where parents can log-on to see what their kids have purchased. We’ve found this helpful at times to remind our kids about healthy alternatives and how to order a healthy lunch, especially on days when they find them selves either completely ravenous or with little time, which can easily happen in a typical school day. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Gwenn Is In*