Childhood Obesity

Voters in Richmond are set to decide whether to make the San Francisco Bay area city the nation's first municipality to tax soda and other sugary beverages to help fight childhood obesity. The Richmond City Council voted 5-2 on Tuesday to place the soda tax measure on the Nov. 6 ballot, despite opposition from grocers and soda drinkers. The tax would apply to soft drinks and other beverages with added sugar such as Snapple. Diet sodas and most juice would be exempt. The money from the penny-per-ounce tax would go to soccer fields, school gardens and programs to treat diabetes and...

Voters in Richmond are set to decide whether to make the San Francisco Bay area city the nation's first municipality to tax soda and other sugary beverages to help fight childhood obesity. The Richmond City Council voted 5-2 on Tuesday to place the soda tax measure on the Nov. 6 ballot, despite opposition from grocers and soda drinkers. The tax would apply to soft drinks and other beverages with added sugar such as Snapple. Diet sodas and most juice would be exempt. The money from the penny-per-ounce tax would go to soccer fields, school gardens and programs to treat diabetes and...

ORLANDO, Fla. - Walt Disney World is retooling an Epcot exhibit on childhood obesity after critics complained it was insensitive to obese kids and reinforced stereotypes. The interactive exhibit, Habit Heroes, featured animated fitness superheroes Will Power and Callie Stenics and super-size villains Snacker and Lead Bottom, who eat junk food and watch too much television. Critics said the exhibit reinforces stereotypes that obese children are lazy and have poor eating habits.

Obesity, once seen as a failure of personal responsibility and lack of willpower, has been repackaged in a four-part HBO documentary airing tonight through Thursday as a complicated phenomenon that's largely resulting from societal pressures that make it far easier for us to commute by car rather than by bike and to eat McDonald's rather than steamed vegetables with tofu. We're told that 60 to 70 percent of the risk for becoming obese lies in genes inherited from our parents but that these genes don't act in a vacuum; how they're expressed depends on...

In the long drawn out battle to fight the childhood obesity epidemic, public health advocates, schools, parents - heck, even the first lady - have been trying a variety of strategies to see what, if anything, really works. An analysis of the latest research published last week by the Cochrane Collaboration may provide better guidance, identifying specific approaches that appear to work to prevent gaining excess body fat. The Australian researchers reviewed 55 studies mostly targeting children ages 6 to 12 and found that overall, obesity prevention programs led to less excess body fat but...

After a three-decade tripling in childhood obesity rates, the trend has leveled off and, for the first time, appears to be on a substantial decline - at least among Massachusetts infants and preschoolers, according to a study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics. Researchers at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute found that the percentage of obese girls under age 6 dropped from 9 percent to slightly more than 6 percent from 2004 to 2008; the percentage of obese boys under age 6 fell from nearly 11 percent to just under 9 percent during the same time...

Obesity, once seen as a failure of personal responsibility and lack of willpower, has been repackaged in a four-part HBO documentary airing tonight through Thursday as a complicated phenomenon that's largely resulting from societal pressures that make it far easier for us to commute by car rather than by bike and to eat McDonald's rather than steamed vegetables with tofu. We're told that 60 to 70 percent of the risk for becoming obese lies in genes inherited from our parents but that these genes don't act in a vacuum; how...

HOW'S THIS for an unlikely weapon against obesity: On 10-year-old Ezra Fellman-Blau's first visit to the child-obesity clinic at Children's Hospital, Dr. David Ludwig offers the boy a piece of chocolate. It's dark chocolate, specifically - the rich, bitter stuff - and Ludwig first explains that, unlike milk chocolate, this is a health food. Then he gives Ezra a lesson in how to eat. Smell your food. Then lick it. Then chew it slowly. Swallow. Take note of every sensation, in your mouth and in your stomach.

For all the national conversations about eliminating childhood obesity - and it's a favorite subject for luminaries as varied as first lady Michelle Obama, TV doctor Mehmet Oz, and rapper 50 Cent - there's still one place where the discussion doesn't flow so easily: at home. "I always wanted to say something to my daughter, but I held back," said Agnes Mastropietro, 46, a medical biller at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. When her child started gaining weight in high school, Mastropietro was torn between telling Michelle to put down the chips and keeping quiet for...

Town officials have issued a weight-loss challenge to the community: They're asking residents and town employees to sign up to help Walpole lose 1,000 pounds in three months, starting on Feb. 15. The challenge complements an effort aimed at reducing childhood obesity. - Johanna Seltz

The Massachusetts House of Representatives has passed a budget amendment that would allow cities and towns to decide whether they want to adhere to public health guidelines banning the sale of sweets and some other foods from being sold during school hours. The state Public Health Department has approved regulations that take effect Aug. 1 banning, among other things, the traditional fund-raising bake sale. The agency said the measure is meant to fight childhood obesity. Critics said it was an example of government overreach and would deny schools of a reliable revenue stream.

After a three-decade tripling in childhood obesity rates, the trend has leveled off and, for the first time, appears to be on a substantial decline - at least among Massachusetts infants and preschoolers, according to a study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics. Researchers at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute found that the percentage of obese girls under age 6 dropped from 9 percent to slightly more than 6 percent from 2004 to 2008; the percentage of obese boys under age 6 fell from nearly 11 percent to just under 9 percent during the same time period.

If a mother like Teneka Williams has to struggle to keep her daughter from sliding into obesity, America is in big trouble. A couple of years ago, the Dorchester woman noticed her daughter Tiarra, now 9, gaining weight rapidly, jumping dress sizes in months. Worried, she served Tiarra smaller meals, encouraged her to be more active, banned soda. Then, after hearing a radio spot, she contacted the One Step Ahead Clinic at Children's Hospital, which predominantly serves city kids who are Hispanic, or African-American, like Tiarra.

MARSH MADNESS: The Parker River National Wildlife Refuge in Newburyport wants landowners to become more sensitive to their surroundings. To that end, it has announced the Slow the Flow campaign and grant program, which offers $500 to $1,000 to people who make lawns and landscaping more environmentally friendly. A kick-off workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 31 at refuge headquarters, 6 Plum Island Turnpike. It will address why the Great Marsh needs help and what residents can do to protect the watershed.

Michelle Obama has praised her husband's record on issues including job creation and the auto industry bailout at a private campaign fundraiser in Boston. She said Friday night his health care reform made history, which Republicans have vowed to reverse, and asked, "Are we going to stand by and let that happen?" The first lady spoke about half an hour to around 350 people at the Institute of Contemporary Art and later addressed a dinner there. The Boston Globe reports (http://bo.st/wySLdx)

LIMA, Ohio — Rick Santorum sees an America in need of more than economic recovery, warning Saturday that the nation's inattention to conservative social values is ‘‘damning people. " ‘‘Folks if we know what works, why don't we talk about what works? Why don't we encourage it in our schools? Why don't we encourage it in our culture?" the Republican presidential candidate asked hundreds of people gathered at the Allen County Lincoln Day dinner. ‘‘Why are we damning people?

An Oklahoma lawmaker is proposing a tax on violent video games to fight childhood obesity and school bullying. Rep. William Fourkiller of Stilwell says the lack of physical activity associated with playing the games and the violence they portray have been blamed for childhood obesity and bullying. He says the games contribute to the problems, but they can also be part of the solution because of the revenue they raise. In 2008, 298 million video games were sold in the U.S., totaling $11.7 billion in revenue.

CHICAGO — McDonald’s Corp.’s chief executive, Jim Skinner, came out swinging yesterday when asked about Ronald McDonald and whether the burger chain hooks children with junk food. Skinner, speaking at the company’s annual shareholder meeting, said newspaper ads calling for Ronald’s retirement had prompted an outpouring of support, with parents and customers asking Skinner “to defend their right to choose.’’ Corporate Accountability International paid for the ads, which said Ronald is encouraging unhealthy eating habits and contributing to childhood obesity and related diseases such as...

ORLANDO, Fla. - Walt Disney World is retooling an Epcot exhibit on childhood obesity after critics complained it was insensitive to obese kids and reinforced stereotypes. The interactive exhibit, Habit Heroes, featured animated fitness superheroes Will Power and Callie Stenics and super-size villains Snacker and Lead Bottom, who eat junk food and watch too much television. Critics said the exhibit reinforces stereotypes that obese children are lazy and have poor eating habits.