Tagged: obesity

Eating a nutritious diet appears to mean spending a bit more on your groceries. That means poor people face an extra challenge trying to eat well, according to a new study of about 1,100 King County residents.

Why spend $800,000 to advertise what seems like common knowledge?  That smoking is bad for you, that eating nutritious foods is better than a diet of fast-food and physical activity is a good idea?

Because too many of us have trouble following those golden rules.

The effort to reduce obesity is taking aim once again at sugary drinks.  A coalition of health groups is asking the public to try-out “Soda-Free Sundays.”

There’s pretty solid evidence Americans, on average, are drinking a lot more soft drinks and other sweetened beverages than they did a generation ago.  Back in the 1990’s, for example, soft drink sales surpassed milk.

Being a pioneer in adding calorie and nutrition labels to menus at fast-food restaurants has made King County a good place for researchers to visit.

A team based at Duke-National University of Singapore has been watching consumers at Taco Time restaurants, both in King County and in other counties, and found that adding all that info to the menus appeared to have no impact on people's choices. They published their results today in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Washington state ranks 11th among all states in overall health according to the  annual survey   "America's Health Rankings."  The survey is produced by the American Public Health Association, the United Health Foundation and Parnership for Prevention using data from a number of sources including the Centers for Disease Control.

Voters may have repealed taxes on sodas, but that’s not scaring away public health leaders.  They’re urging parents to keep their kids away from sodas and other sugary drinks this holiday season.  It’s part of an overall effort to combat obesity.