Dallas School Gets an ‘A’ for Promoting 3E’s

I was happy to learn recently that one Texas school is going the extra mile in embracing the 3E’s of Healthy Living - Exercise, Education and Eating Right.

The team at A+ Academy Charter School in south Dallas is delivering this message straight to their students. This picture of the cafeteria bulletin board is a good example of the commitment of Cafeteria Manager Doreen Gisler and Child Nutrition Director Judy Jones to helping improve the health of the 1,092 students at the school.

It’s great to see nutrition professionals going out of their way to teach Texas children the value of living a healthy lifestyle. I urge all parents, teachers, coaches and other role models to adopt a similar enthusiasm for the health of our next generation.

Obesity Awareness Week: Genetics Not Solely To Blame for Obesity

The Texas Department of Agriculture's Chief Nutrition Coordinator, Paige Abernathy, will be guest blogging throughout Texas Obesity Awareness Week. Read her blog to find out interesting obesity facts, and tips on losing weight.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains that genetics can play a role in obesity; however, behavior can also affect a person's weight. It appears that having a certain combination of genes may make an individual more susceptible to being overweight or obese, and outside factors such as low levels of physical activity and an abundant food supply are required for the issue to be expressed.

Genetics do not control individual behavior. For more information on genetics and obesity visit the CDC Web site.

Texas Obesity Awareness Week 2009

The Texas Department of Agriculture's Chief Nutrition Coordinator, Paige Abernathy, will be guest blogging throughout Texas Obesity Awareness Week. Read her blog to find out interesting obesity facts, and tips on losing weight.

It’s Obesity Awareness week across Texas! This week will be dedicated to making a difference in the lives of all Texans. The number of overweight and obese Texans has been steadily growing over the past 20 years. Obesity can have a devastating impact on an individual, both physically and mentally, and on the community through the impact of health care costs and lost work productivity. Knowledge is power, and the better we all understand the obesity issue, the more chance we have at changing our fate.

Some Interesting Obesity Stats You Should Know

• In 2007, nearly 66 percent of Texas adults were overweight or obese.
• In 2007, 32 percent of Texas high-school students were overweight or obese.
• If the current trends continue, 20 million or 75 percent of Texas adults will be overweight or obese by the year 2040, and the cost to Texas will quadruple from $10.5 billion today to as much as $39 billion by 2040.
• According to the National Nutritional Health Survey, the prevalence of childhood obesity was greater in Texas in 2004-2005 than it was in the entire U.S. in 2003-2004. The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity in Texas schoolchildren was 42 percent for fourth-graders, 39 percent for eighth-graders and 36 percent for eleventh-graders in 2004-2005.

You can get more information on these stats here.

Check back throughout the week for weight loss and obesity prevention tips.

Coverage of Mayors' Challenge to Increase Awareness of Summer Nutrition Programs

Check out news coverage from Tuesday's Mayors' Challenge announcement:

News 8 Austin, June 9, 2009

---

Fox 7 News

---

KVUE News

---

Click here to read the press release by TDA on the Mayors' Challenge. You can also watch video of the event here.

Challenge for Texas Mayors to Feed More Hungry Children This Summer

Today, I challenged all mayors across Texas to do what it takes to feed Texas children in need this summer. A recent report found that Texas leads the nation in food insecurity for children under 18 and ranks third in the U.S. for food insecure households. All Texans must do their part to stop this disturbing trend of food insecurity in our great state.

As an editorial in today’s Austin American-Statesman points out, Texas needs to make some big changes. For a state known for its “super-sized wealth,” there are too many children who do not know where their next meal is coming from.

We need powerful partnerships to turn the tables and put healthy food on children’s plates. Free meals are served to children under 18 through the Texas Department of Agriculture’s Summer Nutrition Programs. To find the nearest summer feeding site, visit squaremeals.org.

The mayors of Texas are in a position to improve the lives of children in their cities by generating awareness and working with organizations to help feed hungry children. I hope today spurs a change.

Reminding Parents and Kids to Start the Day with School Breakfast

Yolanda Reyes - Vice Principal, Janice Weston - Principal,Trina Linder - Cafeteria Manager, Yvonne Seiders - Asst. Director of Food Services

It’s National School Breakfast Week, and today I continued my campaign to remind children all across the great state of Texas about the importance of starting their day with a healthy, nutritious breakfast and the role of our dedicated farmers and ranchers.

I talked with Joe Bickett of FOX 7 News live from Lucy Reed Pre-Kindergarten School to showcase the quality meals that are available all across Texas. Every day in our state, over one million students participate in the national School Breakfast Program. But, we can do more to win the war on child obesity.

Parents and students must always remember that good grades start with good nutrition

You can watch my interview here:

Good Practices for Fruits and Veggies

I think it is very fitting the Texas Department of Agriculture serves as the administrator for our state's school lunch and breakfast programs. There’s no better place than the agency that works with and promotes the best interests of our state’s farmers and ranchers who produce high-quality, nutritious, life-sustaining foods that we all too often take for granted.

I was particularly encouraged by two elementary schools, O.A. Peterson in Fort Worth and Sendera Ranch in Haslet, that are working with food service provider Aramark to creatively encourage students to eat fresh fruits and vegetables. Their story was featured in the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram.

What really caught my attention in the story was these quotes from Michelle DoPorto, a mom at Sendera Ranch Elementary, describing how the school’s efforts had enthusiastically made her 7-year-old son, Trey, make some unique choices.

“He came home and said: ‘Mom, I had an apple. I got some broccoli,’” DoPorto said. “He is very particular about what he eats. There’s something about hearing it from a doctor or a teacher. It just seems more meaningful than when Mom and Dad say it.”

And it just can’t be said any better. We all need to give a big thanks to Texas teachers and doctors who not only recognize the importance of healthy choices, but who take the time and energy to steer our children in the right direction to live long, healthy lives.

Click here to find out more about TDA’s efforts in encouraging children to adopt the 3Es of Healthy Living – Education, Exercise and Eating Right.

A Collaborative Effort to Fight Childhood Obesity

In Aggieland on Monday, I met with some of the leaders in the fight against childhood obesity. We brainstormed on ways to tackle the growing obesity problem in the Lone Star State.

Bill Ludwig, U.S. Department of Agriculture Southwest Region Administrator for Food Nutrition Services, coordinated the round-table discussion that included representatives from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, Texas AgriLife Extension Family and Consumer Sciences, the Agatston Research Foundation and The OrganWise Guys health education program . We shared ideas on how to decrease obesity rates among our younger generations, and I am excited to say there are already some great efforts underway to help combat this terrible epidemic.

As you may already know, Texas ranks sixth in the nation in childhood obesity, and in 2005 Texas businesses spent an estimated $3.3 billion on costs related to obesity. This is a trend we must change.

Although Texas schools are already doing an outstanding job of fighting obesity, the realty is we are losing our children after school, during the weekends and in the summers. Through a collaborative effort we can all help Texas children by encouraging them to adopt the 3Es of Healthy Living: Education, Exercise and Eating right. These components are critical to winning the war on obesity.

The upcoming legislative session will give us many opportunities to make gains in our fight against obesity. To find out more about TDA’s request to the state legislature to implement healthy lifestyles for Texas children, visit www.tda.state.tx.us and look for the link on the right called Legislative Appropriations Request.

TDA appreciates all our partners and their investment in healthy lifestyles, and I hope we can work together to improve Texans’ health and end this obesity crisis.

National School Lunch Week Off to a Good Start

This week, I am joining students across the state celebrating National School Lunch Week, Oct. 13-17. As part of my ongoing commitment to help curb childhood obesity, I encourage students to enjoy nutritious school meals and adopt the 3 Es of Healthy Living – education, exercise and eating right.



Today, I joined the fourth graders at Gonzales Elementary School for lunch. It was great to see so many students eating healthy and nutritious school lunches.

Acknowledging the benefits of a nutritional diet and exercise early in life will help foster better eating decisions, and in turn, help sustain a lifestyle with a reduced risk of health problems that are most often associated with obesity. Click HERE to watch TDA's latest public service announcement reminding people that good grades start with good nutrition.

Child obesity is a growing epidemic in our state, but it’s not too late to begin implementing changes in our children’s lives to halt this disturbing trend. Encouraging your children to eat lunch at school is a great way to encourage healthy eating, as those meals are prepared with less fat in order to meet federal nutrition requirements.





Click HERE to read facts and figures about the childhood obesity crisis in Texas.

Larry Wedhe, Assistant Superintendent, Gonzales ISD, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Staples, Gwen Hodges, Principal of Gonzales Elementary and Haley Ratliff, Food Service Director, Gonzales ISD

Obesity Awareness Week

As Texas children return to the classroom, we are reminded of our responsibility to encourage academic excellence, physical fitness and proper nutrition. A healthy mind and healthy body can lead to a lifetime of rich rewards. Today's nutritious school-served meals can play a part in feeding both.

The Texas Department of Agriculture and schools around our great state are working together to promote healthy eating habits. Parents and grandparents should really take the time to check out the school cafeteria. In recent years the menus have vastly improved; today, school-served meals are convenient, more affordable than other options and well balanced to provide daily servings of fruits and vegetables, dairy, grains and protein. With childhood obesity a nationwide epidemic, these initiatives provide a much-needed defense against a serious health crisis.

To read more on what TDA is doing to make sure Texas school meals are healthy, read my column here.

Waging War on Texas' Childhood Obesity Epidemic

We’ve all heard that children need the 3Rs to get a well-rounded education. But I’d like to propose a new concept to Texans so that we can have healthy and happy children: The 3E's for Healthy Living - Education, Exercise and Eating Right.

I am doing a live interview on Internet radio show The Dad Show tonight at 6:15 p.m. to talk about Texas’ war with the deadly obesity epidemic.

Taxpayers are footing the bill for poor eating choices and we must change the trend. I would like schools and parents to adopt the three-pronged approach to battle obesity among Texas youth.

This call to action becomes even more critical in light of results from a state-approved fitness assessment of more than 2 million Texas students. The study reveals student physical fitness levels declines as they progress to the next grade level.

I have toured the state encouraging schools to adopt the 3Es. Since the implementation of the Texas Public School Nutrition Policy, several Texas schools have already been recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for outstanding nutrition and healthy breakfast/lunch options.

School are making progress by improving the nutritional value of school meals and enhancing overall child health, but we are losing our children after the school day is done. Texas must adopt a more comprehensive approach that results in overall healthier lifestyles and healthier students.

I look forward to working with the Legislature to make the 3Es as recognizable to students as the 3Rs were to previous generations.

Results of the fitness assessment can found on the TEA Web site.

UPDATE:
Watch my interview on the Dad Show HERE