nutrition

The soda industry is pouring at least $2 million into two city referendums in California that propose a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, says Politico. The votes in San Francisco and Berkeley across the bay could influence national policy on obesity. "If the tax passes in one of the two cities, as polls show it might, it’ll be the first loss for the beverage industry, which has emerged undefeated in more than 30 similar fights in states and cities, from Maine to El Monte, California in recent years," says Politico. Conversely, if the initiatives fail, it may discourage attempts elsewhere.

Three states decided not to put up the additional money needed to participate in a program that triggers additional food stamps for people who receive assistance with their utility bills - a program with the nickname "heat and eat," writes Alan Bjega of Bloomberg. Two of the states, New Jersey and Wisconsin, have Republican governors mentioned as possible candidates for president. The third state is Michigan.

More than 90 percent of U.S. children eat far more salt than recommended by the government, putting them at risk for developing high blood pressure and heart disease later in life, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a Vital Signs report, CDC researchers said that 43 percent of the sodium comes from the 10 foods most commonly eaten by children: pizza, bread and rolls, cold cuts/cured meats, savory snacks, sandwiches, cheese, chicken patties/nuggets/tenders, pasta mixed dishes, Mexican mixed dishes, and soups.

The obesity rate among U.S. adults doubled since 1980 to its current 35 percent. "We are starting to see signs of hope," say the heads of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust for America's Health in their "State of Obesity" report. It says childhood obesity rates stabilized in the past decade and the rate of increase in obesity among adults is slowing. "In 2005, every state but one reported an increase in obesity rates; this past year, only six states experienced an increase," it says. The six states are Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, New Jersey, Tennessee and Wyoming.

An estimated 14.3 percent of American households, or one out of seven, often had trouble buying enough food or affording enough nutritious food last year, said the Agriculture Department. The "food insecurity" figure was almost the same as in 2012 but has declined from 14.9 percent in 2011. Rates surged during the 2008-09 recession and remain high.

Americans score poorly when assessed for a healthy diet, says a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Researchers say the U.S. average improved to 46.8 in 2010 from the initial 39.9 in 1999 on a scale of 110. More than half of the improvement came from lower consumption of trans fats. The 29,124 adults in the study also ate more whole fruit, whole grains, and legumes and nuts while cutting back on sugary beverages.

With 8,268 listings in the National Farmers Markets Directory, USDA is creating three new directories for local food marketing. The new catalogs will cover Community Supported Agriculture projects, food hubs and...

A "soda tax" of 1 cent per teaspoon of sweetener would be levied under a bill unveiled by Rep Rosa DeLauro, Connecticut Democrat, with the revenue used in programs to reduce obesity, diabetes and other health losses due to sugar-sweetened beverages. "There is a clear relationship between sugar-sweetened beverages and a host of other health conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, obesity and tooth decay," said DeLauro in a statement.

Several hospitals in San Francisco are working together "to add more fresh, organic and sustainable foods to their patient and cafeteria trays," writes Ingfei Chen at The Guardian.

First Lady Michelle Obama will fight for healthier school meals and the White House has made the issue a top priority, senior nutrition policy advisor Sam Kass told supporters, according to Obama Foodorama.

At a meeting with school nutrition leaders, First Lady Michelle Obama said proposals in Congress to scale back nutrition standards were "unacceptable to me, not just as First Lady, but also as a mother." The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to vote on Thursday on a USDA funding bill that would waive for one year the requirement for healthier meals if schools show they lost money on their food programs for six months.

First Lady Michelle Obama will stress the need "to protect and advance the tremendous progress that has been made" in school meals during a meeting this afternoon, according to the White House. School leaders and other experts have been invited to the White House to discuss school meals.

The House Appropriations Committee is likely to release today a draft of the FY15 USDA funding bill. It could include provisions, sought by conservative Republicans, to delay or overturn school lunch rules. On Tuesday, House and Senate subcommittees are scheduled to mark up the spending bills. "We expect they will act on Tuesday May 20 to gut nutrition standards through the appropriations process," says the consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest in a on-line petition.

Researchers from four countries around the world say that as the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere rises, the amount of zinc and iron in wheat, rice, soybeans and field peas went down significantly; wheat and rice also had notable declines in protein content at the higher levels of carbon dioxide used in the experiment. Zinc and iron deficiency is a global health problem.

Many poor neighborhoods are close to a supermarket - 86 pct are within a mile, says Tufts associate professor Parke Wilde in his U.S. Food Policy blog. That's a shorter distance than commonly thought and a shorter trip than faces higher-income people, according to research by Wilde and colleagues.

The administration may announce later this week the first update to the Nutrition Facts labels that appear on food packages, said Politico's Morning Ag newsletter.