tagged w/ Eating Habits
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Is a McDonald's Happy Meal still a Happy Meal if there's no toy inside?
If a consumer group with a history of going after food makers who advertise to kids has its way, we might find out.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest declared today it would sue McDonald's if it doesn't stop marketing its wares with toys to young children.
"Not only does the practice mobilize 'pester power,' but it also imprints on developing minds brand loyalty for McDonald's," the group's letter to McDonald's says.
And those aren't happy results for kids, CSPI says. "Because most of the company's options (for young children and others) are of poor nutritional quality, eating Happy Meals promotes eating habits that are virtually assured to undermine children's health," the letter says.
In other words, they're making our kids bug us to go there through toy tie-ins to the latest movies, and then they're hooking them on food that's high in fat, salt, sugar and calories.
The latest movie marketing gambit — tied to the movie Shrek Forever After — was tarnished by a recall of about 12 million glasses over potential health risks from cadmium. But McDonald's says the Shrek-themed Happy Meals aim to foster healthier eating, with choices that include fruit, vegetables and low-fat dairy products.
And there's growing evidence that characters used in marketing strongly affects childrens' food preferences.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/06/22/128004428/consumer-group-to-mcdonald-s-drop-the-toys?ft=1&f=1001Is a McDonald's Happy Meal still a Happy Meal if there's no toy inside?... more
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Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver on Wednesday called for an overhaul of America's food system, saying the country's poor decisions about what to eat are shortening life spans and increasing health care costs.
"My wish is for you to have a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, to inspire families to cook again and to empower people everywhere to fight obesity," he said in a speech at the TED Conference in Long Beach, California.
Oliver, who grew up working in his father's pub and restaurant in Essex, England, outlined a number of specific steps to help America get back to local and fresh foods and to combat obesity. Among them, he said:
• Every child in the U.S. should learn to cook 10 meals before leaving high school.
• Supermarkets should appoint "food ambassadors" to explain to customers how they can prepare local, fresh and seasonal foods.
• Food companies should make education a central part of their business.
• Food labeling should be improved to accurately warn people about unhealthy food. He called America's current food-labeling system a "farce."
More at the link.....Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver on Wednesday called for an overhaul of America's food... more
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Ever wonder why some youngsters approach food as an adventure and others insist on mono-meals of mac 'n' cheese? Turns out kiddie palates don't happen by accident. Studies show that children prefer the flavors they experience early on, including while they're in the womb. A pediatrician is drawing on that research to help get more pregnant and nursing women to eat healthy, varied diets — because doing so will make their babies predisposed to eat what's good for them.
According to Alan Greene, a clinical professor of pediatrics at Stanford University and the author of the new Feeding Baby Green, children can acquire what he calls nutritional intelligence, which will help them choose healthy food later in life. And this intelligence springs from food imprinting, which begins during gestation. "How a child learns to eat is one of the most important health issues in this country," he says. "It's learned behavior."Ever wonder why some youngsters approach food as an adventure and others insist on... more
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ajrmy
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added this
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2 years ago
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We do it for the bDr. David Kessler, 58, says that when he looks at a huge plate of French fries, he knows that if he starts eating them, he won't stop until he's wolfed them all down. Yes, even the former head of the Food and Drug Administration, who once oversaw the nation's health, struggles to eat well like the rest of us.
We do it for the buzz. Like drug addicts. How do we stop the constant craving?
In his new best-selling book, "The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite," Kessler, a San Francisco Bay Area pediatrician, explains why certain foods loaded with fat, sugar and salt exert such a pull, despite our best intentions to avoid them. As he discusses the biology that leads to scarfing down a plate of fries, he delves into such puzzles as why the French fry binger is more likely to remember the pleasant stimulation of the fries' salt, fat, texture and flavor than the stomachache and self-recrimination that follow it.
The former dean of medical schools at Yale and the University of California, San Francisco, Kessler, who is also a lawyer, contends that the American food culture, including our mores about when, where and how often we eat, plays a large role in fostering what he calls "conditioned hypereating." He argues that the government, food industry and individual diner all have parts to play in combating that plate of fries. While Kessler is not offering a weight-loss solution or proposing some chimerical healthy eating plan, his book strips away the allure of some of the most appetizing and unhealthy foods. I spoke with Dr. Kessler about why so many of us can't eat just one.uzz. Like drug addicts. How do we stop the constant craving?We do it for the bDr. David Kessler, 58, says that when he looks at a huge plate of... more
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Dutch lab researches what people eat and how to influence habits
WAGENINGEN, Netherlands - At the university cafeteria, women linger longer than men over their lunch decisions. Given a choice, they tend to opt for meat labeled "animal friendly," while men likely will go for a new product.
Cameras are watching them. From inside a control room, monitors record the customers' movements, hesitations, facial expressions, posture, weight, even their eating habits.
It gives the scientists plenty to chew over. They study the influences on eating, how products can be made more appealing, and how to direct consumers to specific — perhaps healthier — choices.
Dutch lab researches what people eat and how to influence habits
WAGENINGEN,... more
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Maura Harrington has decided to take a stand by going on a hunger strike and putting her life at risk in order to stop Shell's plan to run a gas pipeline through a coastal Irish village.
Harrington's hunger strike began last Tuesday and is another chapter in the ongoing desperate battle between the local residents of Rossport in County Mayo, Ireland and the multinational oil company Shell. For eight years now the community has been fighting against plans to build a pipeline from an offshore gas extraction outfit through or near Rossport and on to an onshore refinery.
Harrington, a former headmistress, has been opposed to the onshore pipeline from the start, and believes Shell should build an offshore refinery. She gave notice to the commander of Shell's Solitaire boat that if it came into the bay she would begin her strike and carry on till the ship went away.
Harrington, who only weighs 42kg (6st 9lb), says she had been contemplating the hunger strike for months now, but the decision was finally made when she heard that the Solitaire was on its way. It sprang out of her despair, she says, over the actions not just of Shell but of the local authorities, the Garda, and the government.
"What kind of country are we living in?" she says. "This part of the world was such a beautiful place, and it is painful, physically and emotionally, to see what has happened here with the construction work. So I have put my life and death into the hands of the Solitaire."Maura Harrington has decided to take a stand by going on a hunger strike and putting... more
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Even though most people will be aware of the 'five-a-day' healthy eating target by now, the majority of Britons fail to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, according to latest research.
A study of the consumer habits of the nation found that only 12 per cent of the population manage the five-a-day target, while another 12 per cent do not eat any portions of fruit and vegetables. Giles Quick, the managing director of TNS Worldpanel UK usage panels, said: "While the need for five-a-day seems to be common knowledge, the number of us who actually achieve this is shockingly low."
Interestingly, the study found significant differences between age groups, gender and social class. The most likely groups to meet the target are the most affluent and the over-45s, with children and the less affluent the most likely to consume no portions.
The five-a-day recommendation is based on a World Health Organisation report which showed that eating 400g of fruit and vegetables a day seemed to reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
The most recent study group also identified a rising trend towards large dress sizes among Britons as an indicator of the nation's obesity problems. There are variations across the country, with the proportion of clothes sold in size 18 or above increasing by more than 35 per cent in the last two years in south west England.
On a more positive note, there were also signs that healthy eating habits were gaining more followers. TNS said it valued the healthy food market at more than £11 billion a year, growing at almost 8 per cent in value each year. The number of younger consumers (under-34s) who said they cooked from scratch has grown by 14 per cent over the past two years, but is restricted to savoury foods.
Even though most people will be aware of the 'five-a-day' healthy eating... more
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The tomato scare may be over, but it has taken a toll — it's cost the industry an estimated $100 million and left millions of people with a new wariness about the safety of everyday foods.
An Associated Press-Ipsos poll finds that nearly half of consumers have changed their eating and buying habits in the past six months because they're afraid they could get sick by eating contaminated food.
They also overwhelmingly support setting up a better system to trace produce in an outbreak back to the source, the poll found.
The people who feel that way include the growers.
Virginia's East Coast Brokers, one of the largest tomato growers in the country, has been hammered by slumping demand and falling prices, although Virginia tomatoes were cleared early on, said sales manager Batista Madonia III. He said he's frustrated by the government's inability to find the root cause of the outbreak despite a nearly two-month long investigation.
The salmonella outbreak has sickened more than 1,200 people in 42 states since the first cases were seen in April.
"I guarantee in that time frame, more than 1,000 people were injured slipping on a banana peel," said Madonia.
Although federal officials lifted the tomato warning Thursday, the cause of the outbreak remains unknown. Hot peppers are under suspicion, and tomatoes have not been cleared everywhere.
While the poll found that three in four people remain confident about the overall safety of food, 46 percent said they were worried they might get sick from eating contaminated products. The same percentage said that because of safety warnings, they have avoided items they normally would have purchased.
Christy Taylor, a first-grade teacher from Sacramento, Calif., said she has all but given up on supermarket produce and is buying most of her fresh fruits and vegetables at the local farmers' market instead.The tomato scare may be over, but it has taken a toll — it's cost the... more
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kushan
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added this
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3 years ago
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It’s not only unhealthy eating habits that contribute to bulging waistlines, but also our urban surroundings, says a new study.
The study led by scientists from University of Alberta has established a link between urban planning and rising obesity rates.
Researchers focused their study over two key areas- economic environments and built environments i.e. the ways in which the neighbourhoods and the cities we live in are planned and developed.
“When we reviewed the evidence we found, for example, that lower-income neighbourhoods were more likely to have greater access to sources of high-calorie foods, such as fast-food outlets, and lower access to supermarkets or other stores stocking healthy foods,” said Kim Raine, lead author and director of the University of Alberta’s Centre for Health Promotion Studies.
“The report also found that a lower socio-economic status—which involves education level, income and employment—was often associated with increased obesity among both adults and children.
“Lower personal income affects the affordability of food and that has been shown to have the most consistent influence on what people eat,” he added.
They also found that accessibility to recreational facilities in and around neighbourhoods had a significant impact on increasing obesity levels.It’s not only unhealthy eating habits that contribute to bulging waistlines, but... more
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