Review Finds Inexpensive Food a Key Factor in Rising Obesity

A new review summarizing what is known about economic factors linked to increasing obesity in the United States dispels some widely held beliefs and concludes that cheap food has fueled the obesity epidemic [1].

Cheap eats

Teens’ Poor Breakfast Choices Predict Obesity, High Blood Sugar as Adults

Teenagers who don’t eat a good breakfast are more likely to be obese and have high blood sugar in adulthood. That’s the result of a recent study published in the journal Public Health Nutrition.

Healthy breakfast

USDA Replaces School Junk Food with “Smart Snacks”

Federal officials finalized new regulations on snacks sold in U.S. schools this week, requiring lower limits on the amount of fat, calories, sugar and salt [1]. The USDA’s “Smart Snacks in School” nutrition standards balances science-based nutrition guidelines with practical and flexible solutions to promote healthier eating during the school day.

School vending machines

Eating More Fiber May Lower Risk of Stroke

According to a new British study, eating more fiber-rich foods appears to lower stroke risk [1]. The research is published in the American Heart Association journal Stroke.

High-fiber foods

Food Tank’s 13 Resolutions to Change the Food System in 2013

As we start the new year, approximately 180 million Americans have made a New Year’s resolution [1-3]. Two of the top five resolutions for 2013 focus on food, specifically weight loss (#1) and healthier eating (#5).

Ellen Gustafson and Danielle Nierenberg, co-founders of the food think tank Food Tank that launches on January 10th, have also been thinking about resolutions for the year ahead. They think eaters, farmers and policy-makers need new, bigger resolutions to fix the food system — real changes with long-term impacts on plates and in fields and boardrooms all over the world — and offer 13 resolutions to change the food system in 2013.

Food Tank