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Junk food

FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2011 file photo, Nancy Henderson, home economic coordinator for the fresh fruit and vegetables program, reads a story to students before they receive fruit snacks during a lesson in healthy eating at Northeast Elementary Magnet, in Danville, Ill. Northeast offers no junk food for sale to its students, but a new study found that almost half the nation's elementary schools do. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

Study finds easy access to junk food at elementary schools

Last updated Monday, February 6, 2012 - 6:51pm

Think your kid isn't tempted by junk food while at school? A study finds that about half of kids surveyed from public and private school had ready access to vending machines, snack bars, school stores and a la carte lines. And they're not just selling carrot sticks.

The study, released Monday in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, looked at the foods children had access to at various spots on campus during lunch time, in what they termed "competitive venues."

Childhood obesity, Children, Elementary Schools, Healthy eating, Junk food, Research, School lunches, National Read more Comments

Junk food ban costs schools thousands

Brian M. Rosenthal The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, December 12, 2011 - 3:28pm

SEATTLE -- The Seattle School Board is considering relaxing its ban on unhealthful food in high schools amid complaints from student governments that the policy has cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars in vending-machine profits over the past seven years.

The policy, approved in 2004 -- before any state or federal regulations on school nutrition had been established -- put Seattle on the cutting edge of the fight against childhood obesity.

Schools, Children, Healthy diet, Healthy foods, Junk food, Students, National Read more Comments

HOW TO: Wean child of junk food

Daily Press (Newport News Va.), Alison Johnson

Last updated Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 3:02am

Kids used to a steady diet of sugar and fat can change -- and parents can help make the switch less painful.

"It's about balance," says registered nurse Babs Benson, director of the Healthy You weight management program at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk, Va. "Frequency and quantity are key."

Features, Health & Home, Junk food Read more Comments

Study shows kids hit with barrage of junk-food ads

Jeremy Olson, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Last updated Tuesday, November 9, 2010 - 10:49am

MINNEAPOLIS -- Fast-food restaurants have added carrots, yogurt and other nutritious options to their menus in the past few years. But when your family pulls into Burger King, is your child more likely to want a double cheeseburger, fries and a Dr Pepper -- or macaroni and cheese, apples (hold the caramel dip) and milk?

The answer, according to a report on fast-food marketing released Monday, is not just influenced by taste, but by a blitz of television and online marketing aimed at children and by fast-food restaurants that push unhealthy options first at their counters and drive-through windows.

Business, Children, Junk food, Yale Read more Comments