childhood nutrition

A large majority — 85 percent — of the parents polled about food marketing said foodmakers should reduce advertising to induce children to eat unhealthy foods, said the Rudd Center for Food and Obesity. The University of Connecticut center said that since 2012 support increased among parents for "policies to promote healthy eating habits for their children in the media, schools and communities."

The Obama administration gave a cold shoulder to Gov. Paul LePage's proposal to bar Mainers from spending food stamps on soda and candy. LePage "is optimistic the new administration will approve his revived proposal," says The Associated Press, adding that lawmakers in Tennessee and Alabama are pursuing the same idea.

New Mexico has approved the nation's first law to ban “lunch shaming” students who can’t afford school lunches or whose parents fall behind on payments. The Hunger-Free Students’ Bill of Rights, signed by New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, applies to all schools, public or private, that accept federal money for students' breakfast or lunch.

The USDA encourages "share tables" as a way to reduce food waste in school meals. The idea is that children can return untouched food and beverages that become available to children who are still hungry, says Civil Eats, "But there has also been some surprising pushback lately."

People will eat more healthy food if prices are lowered and consume less unhealthy food and fewer sugary beverages if they cost more, say researchers who performed a meta-analysis of 30 studies on the issue. Co-author Ashkan Afshin said the meta-analysis demonstrated causality: "Our results show how 10 to 50 percent changes in price of foods and beverages at checkout could influence consumers’ purchasing behaviors over a relatively short period of time.”

In 2010, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver aired a reality show, "Food Revolution," about Huntington, W.Va., which had been ranked by the Centers for Disease Control as the nation's most unhealthy metropolitan area. The city's schools were at the center of the story. In the latest story from The Food & Environment Reporting Network, published in partnership with The Huffington Post's Highline, reporter Jane Black tells the story of what happened in the Cabell County cafeterias after Oliver left town.

A pair of studies released by the Centers for Disease Control indicate that children and adults consume roughly the same amount of calories from soda and other sugary beverages, such as sports drinks, as they did at the start of the decade, says the Washington Post. "Rates have stalled at well above the recommended limit."

A source close to Ivanka Trump has told the press that the first daughter is interested in childhood nutrition, reports Politico. Some are hoping that Ivanka will influence her father, who took pains during his presidential campaign to show that he’s a burger and pizza guy.

After she leaves the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama will continue to advocate for healthy food for children through the non-profit Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), which works with food companies to improve nutrition content of food products and on labeling, Reuters reported.

Former White House nutrition advisor Sam Kass says food policy advocates "are already nostalgic for the Obama era and will be playing defense for the next four year," says Associated Press in naming potential flash points. Kass says regulations such as the overhaul of the Nutrition Facts label and calorie counts on menus are likely to stay but there will be little additional progress.