nutrition
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Bad food makes kids dumber, study says
Look, ma! No nutrients!Photo: Amanda WestmontA new study says 3-year-olds who mostly eat processed foods have lower IQs five years later. (So Pop-Tarts and Sunny-D are why we’re “falling behind” China in math and science?) The study, cited in The Guardian, examined the diets of 14,000 wee Britlets, based on what their parents reported feeding […]
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Time to retire the USDA’s dietary guidelines?
Once every five years, the federal government goes to great lengths to update its recommendations for how Americans should eat. In fact, Congress mandates that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) be based on the most current science available. Yet over the years, the DGA process has been wrought with politics, which should come as […]
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Food industry FAIL: Foods promoted as healthy for kids — surprise! — are mostly not
A new study released today by the Prevention Institute should represent the final nail in the coffin of food industry self-regulation. Out of 50 products claimed to be good for kids, 84 percent flunk basic nutritional standards.
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USDA releases new nutritional guidelines for school meals
The fight over the federal school lunch program is really a question of social justice for our times. Do the disadvantaged children for whom the program was designed deserve the chance to eat the same quality food as children from families who can afford to shop at a farmers market?
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Scientists say carbs — not fat — are the biggest problem with America's diet
The L.A. Times reports on the growing scientific evidence that carbohydrates -- not fat -- are more likely to be responsible for obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and the other ills of modern civilization. I've certainly gotten healthier on a low-carb diet.
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USDA removes major barrier to Michelle Obama's salad-bar initiative
In response to an inquiry from Grist, the USDA has clarified that it will not oppose plans by a new public-private partnership, Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools, to install 6,000 salad bars in U.S. school cafeterias -- as long as they have a kid-sized sneeze guard.
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Congress passes the school lunch bill, but there's less to it than meets the eye
The House finally joined the Senate in passing child nutrition legislation. Sustainable-food advocates are cheering, but the new law won't transform the dismal nature of school lunches.
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The Times exposes the craziness of the junk-food industry/USDA alliance
On Sunday, The New York Times ran a blockbuster piece on the unholy alliance between the USDA and Domino's to create a monstrously cheesy pizza -- while encouraging healthier eating habits. Here's what this partnership says about our food system and the USDA's role in shaping it.
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Fast food's vomit-worthy hall of gimmicks [SLIDESHOW]
Using extra meat as the "buns." Adding an extra sandwich or two. Making anything a "footlong." What results from these tricks of the fast food world aren't examples of food; they're freak sideshows, novelties, gimmicks of a cheap'n'easy system of producti