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Earlier this month, a new study showed fewer schools are selling snacks and drinks like candy and soda. Now, a panel recommends the government make healthy changes to school meals, even though it will increase costs. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) says as obesity continues to rise, breakfast and lunch at schools should be lower in calories, and have more fruits, vegetables and whole grains to help kids adapt better eating habits. The IOM says the changes could increase the cost of breakfast by as much as 25 percent and lunch by 9 percent.

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Just how much do city kids eat at corner stores after school? A new study looked at the snacking habits at K-8 Philadelphia schools where half of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. Results show children usually buy chips, candy and sweetened drinks, spend an average of $1 each time, and eat 350 calories worth of snacks at each visit. Researchers say 42-percent of the kids went to the corner stores twice a day which adds up to eating more than 3,500 calories – the number of extra calories it takes to gain a pound.

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Pleas to get junk food out of schools may be paying off. New research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds fewer schools are selling snacks and drinks like candy and soda. The report shows high schools and middle schools that sold sugary or salty snacks dropped on average from 54 percent to 36 percent from 2006 to 2008. Those that sold soda and artificial fruit drinks decreased from 62 percent to 37 percent.

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Ever notice all the health claims on foods that you once thought of as junk food? A recent report finds even in a weak economy, people will pay top dollar for products they think will prevent a health problem or those that seem healthier than traditional empty-calorie snacks – things like sugary cereals that strengthen bones, candy disguised as granola bars with a tad of nutrients thrown in, and soft drinks with vitamins.

Do you buy these “functional foods?”

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Yes, I’m part of the majority – I always go for the ears first! How about you?

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You might see the traditional ghosts, goblins, and other spirits come Halloween, but don’t be spooked if there’s not quite as much candy. Wait a minute… isn’t that what trick-or-treating is all about? Ummm… you may be surprised to find kids are actually excited when you hand out special treasures instead of candy!

So, what’s going on? Green Halloween. It’s a non-profit, grassroots movement to create healthier and more Earth-friendly holidays, starting with Halloween. It started out in the Seattle area just last year and has already spread across the country.

The program’s founder, Corey Colwell-Lipson says it’s all about thinking “outside the candy box.” Not convinced? Read on… Corey talks to FatFighterTV about just how Green Halloween is Making a Healthy Difference.

This Halloween, think treasures, instead of candy. Kids love little trinkets like spinning tops, stickers and collectable cards. Most children especially love gifts from nature like polished rocks, crystals and seashells. (From Green Halloween)

Spoiling the fun?
“We’re not all about absolutely no candy. But we’re encouraging people to think about a balance and think about incorporating healthy choices and earth friendly and also people friendly choices, such as thinking about the people who grow or make the products.”

“We’re not trying to dictate what Halloween should be. We’re providing hundreds of ideas and alternatives for those families who are interested in as we say, ‘thinking outside the conventional candy box.’”

From Trick-or-Treat… to Trick-or-Treasure
“We estimate that we came face to face with over 20,000 children last year at the various events we were at. And at as many as we could, we asked them, ‘What would you think if people gave you one of these alternatives for Halloween instead of candy?’ Out of tens of thousands of children – not one single one said that they’d rather have candy, conventional candy, when they saw the alternative. Not one. And you know who was saying, ‘Oh, my kid will never say yes to that?’ It was the parents. The parents are having a harder time with the idea of change than the kids.”

No candy? No way!
“A lot of people weren’t really ready just to say, ‘Gosh – no candy? Really? So how about we do half candy and half something else.’ And that seemed to work really great. And a lot of people said, ‘Yeah, we had a lot of candy left over because everyone took all the temporary tattoos. Gone.’”

Ideas for “Treasures” from Green Halloween:
* Adhesive “bandages” with pirate, black cat and other fun themes
* Barrettes or other hair things
* Beads
* Charms
* Coins (US or non-US)
* Crayon “rocks” (soy-based)
* Earth tone feathers
* Fake jewels (lead free)
* Fortunes
* Glass rings
* Glass beads
* Jokes
* Polished rocks/ skipping stones
* Printed items like word games, word search or cross word puzzles
* Seashells
* Spider confetti
* Stickers
* Temporary tattoos (recycle-themed)
* Whistles (Recycled plastic)
* Yarn bracelets

Go Organic candy
“For people who still want to hand out candy, there are fabulous organic candy companies out there. And if you choose to give out organic candy, which by the way is not necessarily any more expensive than conventional candy, at least it’s organically grown so it’s better for the earth, and it’s better for our kids because it’s whole.”

Treasured treasure
“The number one treat last year of kids of all ages was feathers. We had moms all over the Puget Sound that handed out some conventional candy and then also some of the things we suggested just to see who would respond to what. And feathers came back as the number one thing. But you can’t say, ‘You can take a handful of feathers.’ It has to be, ‘You can choose just one special treasure.’”

Green and healthy – they go together
“There cannot be an unhealthy planet with healthy kids and vice versa. And the same goes for healthy communities – we need our children to be healthy, we need our planet to be healthy, we need our families to be healthy for our communities to be healthy.”

Healthy traditions
“When this idea popped into my mind and I started talking to people about it, it was from the very beginning wanting to start creating traditions that are better for our children including the childhood obesity issues.”

What a child treasures
“If everybody handed out something unusual – whether it was cost-free or whether it cost something – it’s kind of like when you do your kids’ laundry and you have to empty out their pockets because they’re full of little treasures. There are little polished rocks and a seashell and a feather and a little fluff of this and a little fluff of that. Anything can be a treasure to a child.”

###

Check out Green Halloween for more ideas for alternative treats and treasures – lots of choices! And if you have any questions, Corey says just email her: corey [at] greenhalloween [dot] org

By the way, Green Halloween is part of another program Making a Healthy Difference – TreeSwing.

Thanks Green Halloween for Making a Healthy Difference!

Check out all of FFTV’s Making a Healthy Difference honorees here.

If you know of someone you think we should profile, we want to hear from you. Just send us an email at sahar [at] fatfightertv [dot]com

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From FFTV: Halloween is right around the corner, and you know what that means – it’s the beginning of eatin’ season. But never fear – the gals over at Does This Blog Make Us Look Fat? have got you covered…

October Resolutions – by Kiki

We are now firmly in October and this month is the departure platform for a bullet train ride to 2009. It’s a train filled with candy corn, Thanksgiving dinners, Thanksgiving leftovers, baking, holiday parties and a New Year’s Eve gorge.  In the blink of an eye it will be January 1, 2009 and if tradition holds I’m at risk of starting the year laying face down on the closet floor with self loathing, motivation, and vodka sluicing around in my stomach which is 5 pounds heavier.

In the past The New Year was the day to start a diet. But I do not want to feel like I did last year. So this year, right now, I’m reaffirming my commitment to diet and exercise. I am envisioning stepping on the scale January 1, 2009 (quietly because I don’t like loud noises on New Year’s Day) to discover that I am 5 pounds less than today. (Read More…)

Go here to find out Kiki’s entertaining October Resolutions… and to get a super cool printable goal checklist.

And ummm… please, no dental floss!

Are you making any October resolutions?

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More Chinese candy contaminated with melamine is showing up in the U.S. – White Rabbit Creamy Candy was found at two stores in New Haven, Connecticut. Tests found traces of the industrial additive, melamine.

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) put out a warning about White Rabbit candy. The candy was distributed in California, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. The American distributor has ordered a recall, but some of the candy may still be in stores.

The FDA is also warning that seven Mr. Brown instant coffee and milk tea products are being recalled by the Taiwanese company, King Car Food Industrial Co. Ltd., because they may contaminated with melamine.

Melamine was first found in powdered infant formula made in China but has now been popping up in dozens of other products. More than 50,000 children in China have gotten sick from formula or other products containing melamine. Four babies have died.

Melamine is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, ceiling tiles and flame retardants. Some Chinese dairy plants have added it to milk products to make it seem to have a higher protein level.

I wonder what products we’ll see it in next.

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Even though food prices have gone up and more people are pinching pennies, sales of candy are still going strong.

Last year Americans spent more than $29 billion on the sweet stuff, according to the National Confectioners Association. Analysts tell ABC News the candy business is “recession-proof” – it’s still relatively cheap for most consumers to buy their favorite treat, and it has that “feel good” factor during a hard time.

I’ve still been buying my yummy, gourmet chocolate. Do you still splurge on the sweets, even through these tough economic times?

Photo Credit: stock.xchng

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