Motley Moose – Archive

Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

nutrition

Kids Care About Health… Until We Dupe Them

Kids care more about being healthy than some might give them credit for. A lot of kids might beg mom for sugary cereals, but it turns out that they aren’t necessarily after the sugar itself. According to a new study published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, given a choice between cereals in plain boxes labeled “healthy” and “sugary,” most kids will pick the healthy cereal. This indicates that some of the messages kids are being sent about the importance of a balanced diet and leading a healthy life are making an impact. Unfortunately, when a colorful cartoon character is placed on a cereal box, kids tend to choose it no matter what it tastes like.

The College Diet- Tips for Eating Healthy on a College Budget

College diet:

A diet that consists in approximately one meal a day. This meal is often of little or no nutritional value, and may be fast food or even a bag of chips from a vending machine, eaten while sitting in class waiting for the prof to arrive.

The college diet can be employed for a number of reasons, chief among these are a lack of funds with which to purchase food, or a lack of time in which to prepare and eat a balanced meal.

The Urban Dictionary

You wake up to the sound of the alarm going off and your neighbor banging on the wall, and notice you’re late for class. You dress without thinking about what you’re doing, and hoof it across campus wearing mismatched socks, shouldering a backpack containing fifty pounds of books, to take a chemistry test you didn’t study enough for. You look in your wallet and wonder if the local hospital needs any test subjects. You try valiantly to stay awake all day, finally limping back home (after a detour to try and work up the courage to talk to that cute girl in English class) and collapsing into bed- only to realize you’ve got another test to study for, and three papers to write.

Is it a wonder that being a college student and eating well are often seen as two mutually exclusive goals?

“I’ll worry about it when I’m older. They make drugs like Lipitor, which are supposed to clean your cholesterol if you eat too much instant food.”

Heck, a Starbucks Frappacino (13.7 ounces) has 290 calories, almost five grams of fat (half saturated), and 46 grams of sugar. That’s the nutritional equivalent of almost four scoops of chocolate ice cream!

I know it’s hard to eat healthy food, stay on a budget, and enjoy college life- so here’s a few tips for those of you on a budget and looking to eat well!

Tell Congress to Support Section 440 in the Final Health Reform Bill

Please feel free to use the text below to let your representatives know your opinion on this issue. Select and copy the text below then click here to send a message to your congressional representative and senators.


As a constituent, I am strongly in favor of the inclusion of Section 440 of H.R.3200 in any final health bill. Please work to include pre-natal counseling, education for families concerning healthy eating, healthy family activities.

As we see more obesity in younger and younger children,  we see more children with cholesterol issues, blood pressure issues, at ages we never did before.  This alarming trend has to be challenged head on and one way is educating families on eating healthy, family exercise habits and how to eat healthier on a budget.

Waiting on these issues is akin to parking an ambulance at the bottom of an abyss when the bridge is out.  Educating parents on prenatal care, healthy eating and exercise habits, is like putting up directions for a detour before driving a car off a bridge.  It would, in the long run, be cheaper for all and decrease the incidence of disease at an early age.  

I urge you to support being smart and efficient about health care.