The New York Times
September 30, 2009

"ON a recent Monday afternoon in the back of a middle school kitchen in Queens, it sounded as if a deal was going down.

“You want garam? I can get you garam.”

Jorge Collazo, executive chef for New York City schools, was making an offer to Sharon Barlatier, the manager of one of the largest middle school cafeterias in New York, and, by extension, the country.

Her job is to entice nearly 2,000 students at the height of adolescent squirreliness to eat a good lunch. Because many of her students at Middle School 137 come from families with Indian roots, curry is one of her secret weapons. The spice mix garam masala might improve its firepower.

She has to make curry from a limited list of ingredients approved by the Department of Education: frozen pre-roasted commodity chicken parts, jarred chopped garlic and a generic curry powder."

The Huffington Post
September 29, 2009

" U.S. first lady Michelle Obama is to kick off the 40th anniversary season of the children's TV show "Sesame Street" with a segment encouraging kids to plant gardens and eat healthy food.

Obama, who is planting a fruit and vegetable garden on the grounds of the White House, will appear in the November10 season debut of "Sesame Street" -- the educational show for kids that is broadcast in more than 120 countries around the world.

Producers said on Tuesday that Obama will teach the furry "residents" of Sesame Street about the benefits of growing a garden and healthy living, and will show children how to plant tomato, cucumber and lettuce seeds."

CNN
September 29, 2009

"Parents can check out growth charts -- a nifty graph that tells them where their child falls in relation to peers in terms of height and weight -- just about everywhere, from a child's vaccination records to the doctor's office.

But there's a problem: A new study suggests that most parents don't know how to read the charts and may think a child's weight is perfectly fine, when, in fact, the child is obese or overweight compared to peers.

More than 12.5 million children and adolescents are overweight, and these numbers are on the rise, according to the U.S. surgeon general. If most parents don't realize that their child is overweight, the new study, which appears in the October 4 issue of the journal Pediatrics, has implications in the war against childhood obesity."

The Washington Post
October 1, 2009

"At Vivian Elementary School, about 12 miles from the site of the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, students spend about an hour once a week talking about bullies--and what to do when they see one.

Every child from kindergarten through sixth grade--and all of the adults in the school--learn how to identify bullying behaviors and how to stand up to a bully without inflaming the situation.

“This is the culture of our school,” said social worker Molly Lacy. “Safety is our big concern. We give the children tools so that they have the ability to problem solve most situations, but they are also comfortable asking an adult for help."

MSNBC
September 29, 2009

"Being fat in middle age may slash women's chances of making it to their golden years in good health by almost 80 percent, a new study says.

American researchers observed more than 17,000 female nurses with an average age of 50 in the U.S. All of the women were healthy when the study began in 1976. Researchers then monitored the women's weight, along with other health changes, every two years until 2000.

For every one-point increase in their Body Mass Index, women had a 12 percent lower chance of surviving to age 70 in good health when compared to thin women. Researchers defined "healthy survival" as not only being free of chronic disease, but having enough mental and physical ability to perform daily tasks like grocery shopping, vacuuming or walking up a flight of stairs."

People
September 28, 2009

"In a stunning announcement, TLC said Tuesday morning that as of Nov. 2 Jon Gosselin would no longer appear on the popular reality series Jon & Kate Plus 8 — and the program would undergo a name change, to simply Kate Plus 8."

MSNBC
September 29, 2009

"It seemed like such a practical and good arrangement, the kind that moms have been making with each other since the beginning of time: One woman would watch her friends’ kids while they waited for the school bus so the other women could go to their jobs.

And then the Michigan Department of Human Services stepped in to tell the Good Samaritan mother that she was facing fines and possible jail time for running an illegal day care center.

“To me, this is just a friend helping a friend, plain and simple,” Lisa Snyder said during an interview with TODAY’s Matt Lauer from her Middleville, Mich., home Tuesday."

BBC
September 28, 2009

"Children whose mothers work are less likely to lead healthy lives than those with "stay at home" mothers, a study says.

The Institute of Child Health study of more than 12,500 five-year-olds found those with working mothers less active and more likely to eat unhealthy food.

Other experts said more work was needed to see if the results applied to other age groups.

The study is in the Journal of Epidemiology and Child Health.

About 60% of mothers with children aged up to five are estimated to be in work.

"
Continue reading Are Children of Working Mothers Less Healthy? »

The Washington Post
September 28, 2009

"We say we are buying a house. But for most of us parents, the house is not the whole story. It is the local public school we are investing in, and sometimes it can be a very daunting financial and personal decision.

In the early 1990s, when my journalist wife was making what seemed to me big bucks as a television producer, we could afford to live in Scarsdale, N.Y. That village's public schools cost us about as much in real estate taxes as the tuition at the private schools our kids had attended in Pasadena, Calif. Fortunately, we got what we paid for in Scarsdale. That is not always the case."

The New York Times
September 29, 2009

"When the label tells you the food you are buying “contains probiotics,” are you getting health benefits or just marketing hype? Perhaps a bit of both.

Probiotics are live micro-organisms that work by restoring the balance of intestinal bacteria and raising resistance to harmful germs. Taken in sufficient amounts, they can promote digestive health and help shorten the duration of colds. But while there are thousands of different probiotics, only a handful have been proved effective in clinical trials. Which strain of bacteria a given product includes is often difficult to figure out."