kids

Meet the woman leading the charge to green America’s schools

Recently I was at a climate conference dominated by Baby Boomers, mostly white men, droning on about the nigh-insurmountable challenges of climate change and laying out their ponderous academic theories for how to change things. In other words, a typical climate conference. Into this dolorous atmosphere came something different: a young woman, bright-eyed and quick-witted, […]

David Roberts Energy

ADHD: It’s the food, stupid

Over 5 million children ages four to 17 have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the United States, and close to 3 million of those children take medication for their symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control. But a new study reported in The Lancet last month found that with a […]

Kristin Wartman Food

Breakfast is not so gr-r-reat when your only option is Frosted Flakes

Breakfast cub: Tony the Tiger says start your kid’s day with big bowls of sweetened corn.Photo: Jim BarkerOne in four children goes without breakfast each morning, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a tragedy to be sure — but are Kellogg’s breakfast products the solution? Last week, Kellogg announced its new project called Share […]

Kristin Wartman Agriculture

As in U.S., European food giants use shenanigans to continue marketing junk to children

Big burger, little bugger: Fast food marketing to small children knows no borders.Photo: (C) sean dreilingerI just returned from a two-day meeting in Brussels. I was asked to participate with other experts from around the world (mostly from Europe) to address the problem of cross-border marketing of unhealthy food to children. In the age of […]

Michele Simon Technology

Are rich Americans having more kids?

“Soon we’ll have our own lacrosse team!”In Tina Fey’s recent piece in The New Yorker, she writes that elite Manhattanites seem to be trying to outpopulate the rest of us: I thought that raising an only child would be the norm in New York, but I’m pretty sure my daughter is the only child in […]

Lisa Hymas Culture

Palin and Bachmann trash Michelle Obama’s breast-feeding advocacy

Photos: Roger H. Goun, Lord Mariser, and Gage Skidmore Once again, the Tea Party heavyweights are using food to cast First Lady Michelle Obama as a proponent for an all-controlling nanny state. Last month, the first lady’s efforts to rein in the junk-food industry drew the ire of right-wing scolds. More recently, her promotion of […]

Kristin Wartman Food

Family values for population hawks: adopting a foster child

Photo: jrodmanjrLast month, Lisa Hymas posted a list of eight things all of us can do about population. It was a great roundup (my favorite was No. 4), but I’d like to add an item: If you really want to be a parent — that is, if you’d like to help guide and shape and […]

Carla Saulter Culture

Why raising the price of school lunch is a bad idea

Scene from Dickens’ Oliver Twist. Drawing by George Cruikshank, circa 1837.At a time when many families are struggling with money — and racking up millions of dollars in debt at school cafeterias — school lunch is about to get more expensive. The hike is mandated by the recent Child Nutrition Reauthorization passed by Congress and […]

Ed Bruske Food

The only kids are alright: Good reasons to consider stopping at one child

This only kid is A-OK.Photo: Omar GurnahSnooki of MTV’s Jersey Shore is immature, whiny, and self-involved — in other words, your typical reality-show star. But a New York Times article about her improbable rise to fame pinpoints one of her less typical qualities: “Not surprisingly, Snooki is an only child,” writes Cathy Horyn. Ouch. Harshing […]