First lady begins fight against childhood obesity – washingtonpost.com.

At its core, the first lady’s initiative centers on clearer nutrition information, increased physical activity, better access to healthy foods and, ultimately, personal responsibility.

“This isn’t about trying to turn the clock back to when we were kids, or preparing five-course meals from scratch every night. No one has time for that,” the first lady said in her remarks. “And it’s not about being 100 percent perfect, 100 percent of the time. Lord knows I’m not. There’s a place for cookies and ice cream, burgers and fries — that’s part of the fun of childhood.”

A Federal Effort to Push Junk Food Out of Schools – NYTimes.com.

…candy and sugary beverages would be banned and many schools would be required to offer more nutritious fare.

Good to hear this and it supplements the article above talking about the Let’s Move initative.

For Students at Risk, Early College Proves a Draw

As an professional in the education field, I am always  interested in new approaches to help kids graduate. This program takes HS seniors and puts them in a  fast-track program that allows them to earn their high-school diploma and up to two years of college credit in five years — completely free. And in the past this type of program was mostly aimed at higher income, gifted kids. This one is trying it out on at risk kids.  And it seems to have hit a chord and is working. Very few dropouts!!

Learning What Food Looks Like Before It Goes Into the Package

Most of Ms. Kessler’s students live in “food deserts”—neighborhoods with lots of fast food but little fresh produce or other healthy fare. Automotive High School’s students are predominantly low income, too, with 75 percent of them qualifying for a free lunch, according to Ms. Brouder.

This is great. Teaching kids what actual food is and not processed food helps set up the strong foundations on healthy relationship with food. Sounds like the kids like the class too. What a great idea!

F.D.A. Weighs Update to Standard Serving Sizes – NYTimes.com.

So to get ready for front-of-package nutrition labeling, the F.D.A. is now looking at bringing serving sizes for foods like chips, cookies, breakfast cereals and ice cream into line with how Americans really eat. Combined with more prominent labeling, the result could be a greater sense of public caution about unhealthy foods.

Consider the humble chip: most potato or corn chip bags today show a one-ounce serving size, containing a tolerable 150 calories, or thereabouts. But only the most disciplined snacker will stop at an ounce. For some brands, like Tostitos Hint of Lime, that can be just six chips.

It’s about time to get real about what is a real portion size and what should be the actual portion size.