HOST Healthy Eating And Physical Activity Roundup, February 4, 2019

The latest in our regular roundups of healthy eating and physical activity news from HOST members and others--including activities to get kids through cold winter months as well as events that look ahead to summer.

Events

• Salud America is hosting a #SaludTues Tweetchat, Tuesday, February 5, from 1 to 2 p.m. ET: on “From Birth to Graduation: Helping Kids Have Healthier Childhoods and Brighter Futures,” co-hosted by City Health Dashboard, Sesame Street in Communities, and the Young Child Facts program of the Alliance for Early Success.
• The Food Research & Action Center is hosting a Summer Meals Matter Call on "Recruiting New Meal Sites" for summer meals, Thursday, February 7, at 1:00 p.m. ET. Register here.

Tips and Resources

The Centers For Disease Control (CDC) has launched  #CDCHealthySchools, a social media campaign for healthy schools,“to increase awareness of the impact school health programs have in schools and school districts across the United States.” It 

The campaign encourages participants to answer the question, “What does a healthy school look like to you?” As part of the campaign, the CDC also is introducing its Healthy Schools Video Series, which shows the accomplishments of the CDC’s past grantees from North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri.

• Healthy Food America and ChangeLab Solutions have created A Legal and Practical Guide for Designing Sugary Drink Taxes for local officials, advocates, and anyone who is interested in pursuing sugary drink taxes. This guide will help you identify best practices and potential pitfalls in designing and implementing sugary drink taxes.
• Alliance for a Healthier Generation's "Wellness & Nature" series, shares how to start an indoor edible garden for a classroom, out-of-school time program, or family, using the National Recreation and Park Association’s Home Gardening Tool-kit as a reference.
• Build Our Kids Success (BOKS) offers suggestions for kids' yoga games to do on cold winter days after school and on weekends. Yoga is "a great way to get everyone moving and breathing, as well as calm some cabin-fever energy that can get the best of the restless kid in all of us," they assert.

Research

• Restaurant, food, and beverage companies target Hispanic and black children and teens with ads almost exclusively for fast food, candy, sugary drinks, and unhealthy snacks, according to a new report from the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at the University of Connecticut, the Council on Black Health at Drexel University, and Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio.

Success Stories

• The Kansas City Public Schools Board of Education passed a wellness policy to ensure opportunities for all students to practice healthy eating and physical activity throughout the school day, including before and after school, reports Voices for Healthy Kids.