Blogs at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

Posts Tagged ‘healthy’

NYC Health Department Encourages Healthy Eating Habits

November 30th, 2008 by Aisha Al-Muslim

Georgie Kovacs tries to live healthy. The thirty-four-year-old works out five to six times a week in midtown. She also recently started paying more attention to what she eats.

“I am trying to be much more aware of what the calories are in foods,” Georgie said. “Sometimes it is hard to tell what the calories are in foods and we might make assumptions.”

But since July, Georgie and other consumers don’t always have to guess. The New York City Health Department began enforcing a regulation requiring chain restaurants with more than fifteen locations to post calorie information on their menu boards. The regulation is part of an effort by the city to curb the nationwide obesity epidemic.

“We like to think of New Yorkers needing 1,800 calories a day,” said Arlene Sparks, a nutrition professor at Hunter College.

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Health Department surveys found people consume one hundred fewer calories per meal when they have access to calorie information. The department estimates this could reduce the number of obese people by one hundred and fifty thousand in the next five years, and prevent thirty thousand cases of diabetes.

“What we do know is there’s a lot of obesity in New York and certainly other places as well,” Sparks said. “Health-wise probably the first problem is diabetes.”

To help New Yorkers make the most of the new calorie postings, the health department started a “Read ‘em Before You Eat ‘em” campaign, placing five different ads inside a thousand subway cars. Seeing the calorie count is a wake up call for some consumers.

“It’s definitely made me change habits,” Georgie said. “Not in eliminating restaurants completely but when I go to them, the choices that I am making for sure.”

The New York State Restaurant Association is fighting the new health code in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals because owners are worried it may be bad for business. In addition to a potential decline in sales, restaurants face fines between two hundred and two thousand dollars if they fail to comply. Health inspectors have issued nearly 400 citations in the last three months. Top offenders include McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts and Domino’s. Kirk Henneberger manages two Chipotle restaurants in Manhattan. His company posted calories before it was mandatory and it has not affected business.

“Since the calories have gone up, there has not been a change as to what people have really been ordering,” said Henneberger, Chipotle restauranteur. “If people want that burrito, they are going to get that burrito.”

The city is paving the way for lawmakers elsewhere to move towards encouraging healthy eating habits. In October, California passed a Senate Bill requiring chain restaurants with more than twenty locations to post calorie information within three years.

“I think it’s a great start. I think it will become a model for the rest of the country,” Sparks said.

Though Georgie likes the new calorie-posting rule, she thinks it could be taken even a step further.

“I thought it was the best thing I’d ever seen. I think all the restaurants should post calories on all of their foods,” Georgie said. “Really what I want it to do is make restaurants change what they are offering to us.”

Until then, Georgie will watch what she eats when she is out, and continue to cook more at home.

No more clean plates!!

September 18th, 2008 by Amber Benham

Finally the New York Times has published what psychologists have long known to be true: forcing kids to clean their plates ISN’T going to make them like new foods.

Nowadays parents seem to subscribe to one of two camps: the you’re-not-leaving-the-table-til-that-plate’s-clean group or the one where parents buy every imaginable sugary, chocolaty substitute for vegetables in a last-resort attempt at getting their picky kids to eat something.  Anything.

With the nation’s childhood obesity statistics rising at a staggering rate, something must be done about parents who lack the proper training in how to teach their children healthy eating habits.

One of the six mistakes parents make, says the NY Times, is making certain foods off limits.  Basically if you tell kids they can’t eat something, they want it more and will binge on the food when they do get access.  I can personally vouch for this one.  My mom adamantly opposed that classically-chemical, Kraft Mac & Cheese that most kids I knew ate from time to time when they had a babysitter.  And Kool-Aid?  Forget about it.  That was strictly forbidden.

Not surprisingly, as soon as I went to college and had total control of my diet, I went CRAZY with those two products.  I ate Mac & Cheese almost every night (in addition to dinner) and drank multiple pitchers of Kool-Aid everyday.  When that got boring I started eating spoonfuls of Kool-Aid drink mix, not even bothering to mix it with water.

Gross, right?  I know.  The most shocking thing is that I’m an adventurous eater who loves vegetables and whole wheat grains.  It wasn’t that my mom failed to introduce me to nutritious foods, but rather that she made the bad ones so appealing I couldn’t resist them.  I gained 30 pounds freshman year without drinking beer.  How’s that for disgusting?

Another major threat to childhood healthy eating is school lunches.  You know what I’m talking about.  Potatoes galore (often fried), greasy pizza (without vegetable toppings) and chocolate milk at every meal.  Yes, there are vegetables, but they’re generally way overcooked and rarely served in an appetizing manner.  As adults we know that salads are more fun when jazzed up with cheese cubes or dried fruit, but school kids are expected to eagerly consume steamed carrots and peas sans spices or garnish.

So, what can we do to fix this nutrition nightmare?  For one thing, we can use research findings to inform our parenting styles, rather than traditions passed down from the Depression era.  Also, we can get involved in community organizations like the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food that work to make positive changes.  Do it.  New York City kids need your help.