Already this school year I’ve been faced with a cheesecake sale for a booster club; candy sale for the school; hot dogs, chips and soda served at an afterschool program…and there’s the promise of more of the same through the school year. I’m hoping my experience is not representative across the mountains and prairies of this large country, but I fear it is. 

Check out an extensive interview with Warshaw on superkidsnutrition.com covering: helping kids develop healthy eating habits, the importance of role modeling healthy behaviors (monkey see, monkey do), and steps families can take to prevent type 2 diabetes. Warshaw also profiles how her book Eat Out, Eat Right  guides parents to teach their kids healthy restaurant eating skills and strategies.

A just released report titled Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity,  from the Institute of Medicine and sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, offers myriad steps local governments can take to prevent the escalating incidence of child obesity.

Two stories in today's (5/7/09) Washington Post helped me greet the day positively and reinforce my sense that, step-by-step, we're making strides to improve the health of our children and the prevent childhood obesity.

Let me begin where I left off discussing the study which asked: What's the Diet is Best?, published in the 2/27/09 issue of New England Journal of Medicine. In closing I noted that this study reinforces that people need continual and continued support  to achieve and maintain weight loss.

Yes, the stats about the numbers of children and adolescents who are overweight (and obese) are glum. And these stats are often topped off with the dismal fact that today’s generation of children are on the road to a shorter life expectancy than recent generations due to obesity, poor eating habits and limited physical activity.

According to a heart warming article in the Washington Post (2/5/09) the new USDA Secretary - Tom Vilsack, is taking a broad view of his goals and roles at USDA. He is talking of his interest in more nutritious foods in schools, more fruits and vegetables for WIC recipients and the importance of educating school administrators, parents and children about the importance of healthy eating and nutritious foods.