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Child Care's Role in Fight Against Obesity
A group of University of Connecticut researchers who study child care as
an important setting to influence healthy eating habits published a
series of findings that can be used to improve child care policies and
practices in order to curb childhood obesity. All of the researchers are
affiliated with UConn's Center for Health, Intervention and Prevention (CHIP),
a multidisciplinary research center that focuses on obesity as a main
area of investigation. The researchers' findings are included in six
studies published in a special section of the October edition of
Childhood Obesity, called "Wellness promotion in child care: Evidence to Action."
Because many young children spend more time in child-care settings than
any other place except home, influencing young children's diets and
physical activity while in child care provides an important opportunity
to address childhood obesity. "The findings from these studies inform
how out-of-home child care providers can work together with families to
reinforce healthy eating and physical activity," said Marlene Schwartz,
PhD, an author on two of the studies and Director of the UConn Rudd
Center for Food Policy & Obesity, which is part of CHIP.
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Rudd Center in the News
UCONN Today
featured an article on Oct. 8 on the six studies published in the
special section of Childhood Obesity on early child care's role in the
fight against obesity. "Collectively, the articles encourage
policymakers to see (early care and education) as a critical partner in
the fight against childhood obesity, and represent the current
challenges and opportunities to promote nutritious eating and physical
activity in young children," Myra Jones-Taylor, Commissioner of the
Connecticut Office of Early Childhood, said in the article. Jones-Taylor
contributed an editorial accompanying the studies in Childhood Obesity.
"Through smart policy and education of children, providers, families,
and policy makers, we can not only address childhood obesity, but help
set the stage for healthier adults later on in life," she said.
The six
UConn CHIP studies on early child care and how it influences children's
eating and physical activity were highlighted in Health News Digest on Oct. 9.
Rudd Center Deputy Director Rebecca Puhl, PhD, commented on weight
stigmatization by health professionals in an Oct. 29 article in Prevention, "These Women Were Fat-Shamed By Their Doctors - And It Almost Cost Them Their Lives."
The Rudd Center study (published in March)
showing children ate more fruit and threw away less of their vegetables
and entrees under the updated healthy school lunch standards was cited
by NBC's King 5 in an opinion piece Oct. 5, "Healthy school lunches under attack: our view." Amid lobbyist demands, schools continue to struggle to provide healthy, appealing meals for students on a limited budget.
The Huffington Post (The Blog) on Oct. 9 carried a great piece by the
Director of the Pew Charitable Trust's child nutrition project, Jessica
Donze Black, on the need to keep the revised healthier school meal
standards: "Give Schools the Tools to Solve Cafeteria Challenge." She also cited our study on plate waste in schools, as did an article in Think Progress: "The Academic Downside of 'Western' Diets."
Philly.com (via the Philadelphia Inquirer) published an article Oct. 16 by two health professionals
who routinely see kids with overweight and obesity. They called on all
of us, "as we have done with other harmful consumer products," to
"collectively limit the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages for the
health of our children." This article cited some of our research on
marketing targeted to black and Hispanic youth.
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What's Simmering with Our Friends
- Bettina Elias Siegel, The Lunch Tray blogger, wrote in early October
about a new McDonald's documentary intended for educational use in
schools. As The Lunch Tray describes it, the film - 540 Meals: Choices
Make the Difference - "is the company's answer to Super Size Me and
features John Cisna, an Iowa science teacher and paid McDonald's 'brand
ambassador' who lost weight by eating nothing but McDonald's for six
months." Her blog drew media attention and she said she "heard nothing
but dismay from people like you regarding McDonald's attempt to get 540
Meals into schools." So she began a petition
to pressure McDonald's to keep the film, which she calls "little more
than a heavily-branded infomercial," out of our children's schools.
- Celebrity chef and healthy food campaigner Jamie Oliver spoke to a committee of British Parliament members Oct.
19 and called on Prime Minister David Cameron to be "as brave as he
knows he should be" in addressing the U.K. obesity crisis - including
introduction of a 20 percent tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. The Prime
Minister ruled out a sugary drink tax, saying there were more effective
ways to deal with the obesity crisis. A Public Health England report
called for a tax on sugary drinks as one of eight recommendations for
reducing sugar consumption to curb obesity and weight-related
illnesses.
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Rudd Center Employment Opportunities
Postdoctoral Fellow
The UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy
& Obesity invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow position
beginning Summer 2016. Candidates will be expected to contribute to the
research mission of the center addressing the topic of weight-related
stigma. This is a full time, annually renewable position with a maximum
duration of 2 years. This Postdoctoral Fellow will contribute to
research on obesity-related stigma, bullying, and discrimination under
Dr. Rebecca Puhl, Deputy Director of the Rudd Center, and Professor of
Human Development & Family Studies. Responsibilities will include
designing, conducting, and analyzing research studies, literature
reviews, grant writing, and writing scientific papers.
Job ID: 2016182
For more information and to apply, click here.
Postdoctoral Fellow
The UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity invites applications
for a Postdoctoral Fellow position beginning Summer 2016. Candidates
will be expected to contribute to the research mission of the center
addressing food insecurity, nutrition, and health disparities. This is a
full time, annually renewable position with a maximum duration of 2
years. This Postdoctoral Fellow will contribute to research on food
insecurity, nutrition and health disparities under Dr. Marlene Schwartz,
the Rudd Center Director, and Professor of Human Development &
Family Studies. Responsibilities include quantitative data collection,
community engagement throughout the research process, data analyses,
literature reviews, grant writing, and writing scientific papers.
Job ID: 2016183
For more information and to apply, click here.
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