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