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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2012)
February I, 2012 The Portland Observer Black HistOlV Month Page 15 More Fruits, Veggies for School Lunches Guidelines cap calories, curb trans-fat U nder the new rules, pizza won't disappear from lunch lines, but will be m ade with healthier ingredients. En tire meals will have calorie caps for the first tim e, and m ost trans fats will be banned. Sodium will gradually de- (A P )— The first m ajornutritional overhaul o f school m eals in m ore than 15 years m eans m ost offerings — including the alw ays popular pizza — will com e with less sodium , m ore whole grains and a w ider selection o f fruits and vegetables on the side. First lady M ichelle O bam a and A griculture Secretary T om V ilsack announced the new guidelines dur ing a Jan. 25 visit with elem entary students. M rs. O bam a, alsojoined by celebrity c h e f R achael Ray, said youngsters will learn better if they don't have grow ling stom achs at school. "As parents, we try to prepare decent m eals, limit how m uch ju n k food our kids eat, and ensure they have a reasonably balanced diet," M rs. O bam a said. "And w hen w e’re putting in all that effort the last thing w e w ant is for our hard w ork to be undone each day in the school caf eteria." First lady Michelle Obama visits a school cafeteria in Alexandria, Va., on Jan. 2 5 to have lunch with school children at Parklawn Elementary School and give a boost to making school lunches more healthy. (AP photo) creaseovera lO year period. M ilk will have to be low in fat and flavored m ilks will have to be nonfat. D espite the im provem ents, the new rules aren't as aggressive as the O bam a adm inistration had hoped. C ongress last year blocked the A gri culture Department from making some o f the desired changes, including lim iting French fries and pizzas. T he guidelines apply to lunches subsidized by the federal g o v ern m ent. A child nutrition bill signed by P resident B arack O bam a in 2010 w ill help school districts pay for som e o f the increased costs. Som e o f the changes w ill take place as soon as this S eptem ber; o thers w ill be phased in o v er tim e. W hile m any schools are im p ro v ing m eals already, o thers still serve children m eals high in fat, salt and calo ries. T he g u id elin es are d e signed to co m b at ch ild h o o d o b e sity and are based on 2009 re c o m m endations by the Institute o f M edi cine, the health arm o f the N ational A cadem y o f Sciences. V ilsack said food co m p anies are reform ulating m any o f the foods they sell to schools in an ticipation o f the changes. C elebrity c h ef R ay said she thinks too m uch has been m ade o f the availability o fp izza and French fries. The new rules w ill m ake k id s’ lunch plates m uch m ore nutrient dense, she said. "The overall picture is really good," she said. "This is a big deal." A fter the announcem ent, the three w ent through the line with students and ate turkey tacos with brow n rice, black bean and com salad and fruit— all R ay's recipes — with the children in the Parklaw n Elem entary lunch room. Virus Linked to Mouth Cancer (A P )— A bout 16 m illion A m eri cans have oral H PV , a sexually trans m itted virus m ore com m only linked w ith cervical cancer that also can aged 14 to 69 are infected, the study found. But the results are not cause for alarm . W hile m outh cancers are on the ris e — probably from oral s e x — cause m outh cancer, according to the first nationw ide estim ate. most people with oral H PV will never H PV — hum an papillom a virus develop cancer. And m ost don't have — is increasingly recognized as a the kind m ost strongly linked to m ajor cause o f oral cancers affect cancer. A lso, tests for oral H PV are ing the back o f the tongue and tonsil costly and m ainly used in research. area. Sm oking and heavy drinking Still, experts say the study p ro are also key causes. vides im portant inform ation for fu U ntil now , it was not know n how ture research that could increase m any people have oral H PV in fec know ledge about w ho is m ost at risk tions. for oral can cer and w ays to prevent O verall, 7 percent o f A m ericans the disease. Mentors Improve Young Lives R esearch show s that youth w ith positive adult m entors in their life are less likely to get involved w ith drugs and alcohol, skip class, get into fights o r lie to their fam ilies. T hese sam e youth also show in creased academ ic perform ance and have stro n g er relatio n sh ip s w ith their fam ilies and friends. T he Im pact N W M entoring P ro gram is looking for caring and co m m itted volunteers, especially adult A frican-A m ericans, to m entor stu dents at northeast and southeast elem entary schools. “W e currently have several A fri can-A m erican youth involved in our m entoring program , but have very few A frican-A m erican adult m en to rs,” said Joe T odd, Im pact N W m entoring coordinator. M entors m eet th eir m entee for one h o u r a w eek for a y e ar and offer support by en g ag in g in m utually interesting activities such as sports, gam es, reading, art projects, o r ju st by listening. Im pact N W is a social service organization w hose m ission is to help people achieve and m aintain self-sufficiency, and to prevent and alleviate the effects o f poverty. C ontact Joel T odd at 971-506- 5036 or jto d d @ im p actn w .o rg. Dr. Billy R. Flowers (above center) and his skilled s ta ff are ready to help those in need. THE SPINACOLUMN TM An ongoing series of questions and answers about Americas natural healing profession Part 21; Chlr°Practic vs Fatigue: climbing the a stairs to a new you, two steps at a time. I feel ex h au sted all the tim e. I d o n ’t w ant to take ‘p ep ” pills because o f addic-tion possibilities. W hat can I do? : I have a good friend and but w ould have to stop halfw ay up in the body. If the n erves are to catch his breath before co n tin u trapped or irritated, o ur energy will ing. I p ersuaded him to look to C h i be drained as w ell. He took m y ropractic fo r increased vitality. At advice and now instead o f sto p first he co u ld not see a correlation ping halfw ay, he ch arg es up the patient w ho only a y ear ago betw een his nerves and his stairs, tw o steps at a tim e! If y our at the age o f 61 loved life but has E nergy level. I told him that it w as vitality is giv in g up at the halfw ay a trem endous concern. H e becam e virtually one and the sam e. O ur m ark, get ch arg ed up w ith C h iro fatigued so easily that any activ nerves are the h ig h w ay s o f energy practic. I t’s a natural! ity w ould leave H im exhausted. T he interesting point w ith him w as that he p rac ticed excellent health habits. N one 2124 N.E. Hancock Street, Portland Oregon97212 theless he got to the point w here ex ercise w as nearly im possible. H e still clim bed the steps at w ork A Flowers' Chiropractic Office . Phone: (503) 287*5504
