Posts From October 2011 - Prevention Research Center at Tulane University

Engineer makes New Orleans streets safer for cyclists, pedestrians

Physical Activity Research

Published: October 30, 2011

By ANNETTE SISCO, The Times-Picayune When Jennifer Ruley was growing up in Algiers in the 1980s, smack in the middle of seven siblings, her busy mother didn't have time to drive all the kids to school. Jennifer, like most children in the neighborhood, biked or walked to Alice Harte Elementary School. Today, as a bicycle and pedestrian engineer advising New Orleans City Hall, Ruley, 41, works to make the city safer and more accessible for…

New Orleans residents react to new food co-op

Food Environment Research

Published: October 28, 2011

What does it take to open a grocery store? In the case of the New Orleans Food Cooperative, nine years, 1800 members, innumerable volunteer hours, and a visionary renovation. For healthy food shoppers all over New Orleans, and especially residents living east of the French Quarter, the New Orleans Food Coop’s recent opening was an emotional, celebratory event. Eve Abrams with WWNO talked with folks making groceries on the corner of St. Roch and St.…

Nutritional guide system to make Louisiana debut at New Orleans' food store

Food Environment Research

Published: October 27, 2011

by Maria Clark, New Media Specialist, CityBusiness Langenstein's will be the first grocery store in Louisiana to partner with Guiding Stars, a nutritional guide system that rates the health benefits of food products. Shoppers will be able to identify the nutritional value of every food item in the store through the system's zero-to-three star rating system, which will be placed alongside the item's price tag. The guide depicts a little blue man with stars verifying…

Fitting In Exercise, Between Math and English

Physical Activity Research

Published: October 20, 2011

By FERNANDA SANTOS, The New York Times Five years ago, Richard Reiss, the physical education teacher at Public School 197 in Far Rockaway, Queens, went to the principal with a problem: not even the most athletic among his students, most of whom are poor and black or Latino, had enough endurance to run a mile. The once-a-week physical education classes the school offered, far from what was needed to fulfill the minimum requirement set by…

Study: Better neighborhood lowers obesity, diabetes risk

Food Environment Research

Published: October 20, 2011

By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY Low-income moms who move from very poor neighborhoods to less disadvantaged ones lower their risk of becoming extremely obese and developing type 2 diabetes, a study reveals. “This research shows how important the environment can be for people’s health,” says the study’s lead author, Jens Ludwig, a professor of social service administration, law and public policy at the University of Chicago. Obesity increases people’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes,…

Government softens approach to curbing junk food marketing to kids, food industry still balks

Special Interest Projects (SIPs)

Published: October 13, 2011

WASHINGTON – Tony the Tiger and Toucan Sam can rest easy. Government officials fine-tuning guidelines for marketing food to children say they won't push the food industry to get rid of colorful cartoon characters on cereal boxes anytime soon. Allowing the brand icons from popular cereals to remain untouched is one of the concessions officials say they are likely to make as they work to convince food companies to curb junk food marketing to children.…

CDC Funds Childhood Obesity Studies

Food Environment Research

Published: October 13, 2011

The CDC has awarded $6 million in grant money to San Diego State University to study childhood obesity. The Massachusetts DHS also received $1.7 million to explore treatment options for overweight kids in New Bedford, Mass., and Fitchburg, Mass. Here is a Q-and-A about juvenile obesity and how those grants will be used.

FTC weakens proposals for food ads to children

Special Interest Projects (SIPs)

Published: October 11, 2011

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A government regulator that is part of a working group concerned about junk food ads aimed at children will announce on Wednesday it is backing off some proposals for voluntary food marketing guidelines.

Marques Colston, Wide Receiver for the New Orleans Saints Joins WAT-AAH! to Fight Obesity and Encourage Healthy ...

Physical Activity Research

Published: October 11, 2011

Marques Colston, wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints, joins WAT-AAH!, a line of functional bottled water aiming to encourage healthy hydration among kids and fighting childhood obesity.

Mayor, Michelle Obama Hosting Food Summit

Food Environment Research

Published: October 10, 2011

Summit to address food deserts in low-income areas.

Floating skateboard park to be dismantled and left as gift to New Orleans

Physical Activity Research

Published: October 10, 2011

By Kari Dequine, Times Picayune The whirr of skateboard wheels sliding across cement blended with hip-hop beats Saturday as onlookers peered over a railing at the Mississippi River near the foot of Canal Street. The object of their attention was a floating skateboard park that had arrived in town the previous evening after a three-week journey down the river from Minnesota. New Orleans is the barge’s final destination, with the skate park soon to be…

City leaders brainstorm ideas to fix New Orleans' high obesity rate

Food Environment Research , Physical Activity Research , Special Interest Projects (SIPs)

Published: October 07, 2011

Meg Farris / WWL Eyewitness News NEW ORLEANS – The obesity rate in the Greater New Orleans area is five percentage points higher than the national average. That’s according to the CDC. So health and city leaders are creating a common vision on how to move forward and make change. Doctors, dietitians, researchers, fitness experts and city leaders brainstormed for solutions to battle the epidemic of childhood obesity. “Sixty percent of parents that had overweight…

Salads are nice, but burgers are what really sell

Food Environment Research

Published: October 03, 2011

Oct. 3, 2011, 9:16 a.m. CDT AP NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Americans talk skinny but eat fat. No matter that First Lady Michelle Obama has been on a crusade for a year and a half to slim down the country. Never mind that some restaurants have started listing calories on their menus. Forget even that we keep saying we want to eat healthy. When Americans eat out, we order burgers and fries anyway. “If…

Proximity of fast food restaurants increases obesity in children

Food Environment Research

Published: October 02, 2011

According to Rodolfo Nayga , school-aged children whose schools are closer to fast food restaurants may have a greater risk for obesity. …