STRATEGIC ALLIANCE NEWSLETTER

November 2003

Welcome to the latest update from the Strategic Alliance. In this issue, we highlight a successful obesity prevention motion passed in the Los Angeles Unified School District, a Health Policy Initiative passed in Baldwin Park, an action alert to protect breastfeeding promotion, and Fast Food Worlds, Perils and Promises of the Global Food Chain; a panel discussion in Northern California tonight. We appreciate your feedback and suggestions for future issues.

ACTION ALERT

In early November, several Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign Ads were posted on the Ad Council's web site. The formula industry has written the Ad Council criticizing the campaign. Please write a letter to Secretary Thompson urging him NOT to bow to industry pressure! Letters are best if they are short and factual. You can send directly to:
Honorable Tommy G. Thompson
Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Ave. SW
Washington DC 20201
Or send letters by FAX or email to Jane Heinig at the UCD Human Lactation Center, who will be overnighting packets of letters over the next several days at: mjheinig@ucdavis.edu, or 530-752-7582. You can make a difference! This campaign breaks new ground in changing community norms!

STRATEGIC ALLIANCE TAKES ACTION

Los Angeles Unified School District Bans Junk Food

Working with other advocates, Strategic Alliance members were involved in the passing of a local obesity prevention measure. The Los Angeles Unified School District voted unanimously Tuesday night to ban fried chips, candy, and other junk foods from school vending machines and student stores, and to put strict limits on the amount of fat, sugar, and sodium in any snacks sold during the day. The changes are slated to go into effect July 1st, 2004, joining a previously approved ban on soft drinks that starts in January. "We have a chance to make a difference in the health of our kids," said board member Marlene Canter, who was the driving force behind the proposal. "As the second biggest school district in the nation, our actions today will resonate." For a copy of the LAUSD Obesity Prevention Motion, go to http://www.nojunkfood.org/policy/lausd_obprevammended.html. For the Los Angeles Times article, visit http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-junk29oct29,1,2398330.story?coll=la-headlines-california

Baldwin Park Adopts "Healthy Policy Yields Healthy Minds Initiative"

Through the hard work of Rosa Soto, Grassroots Campaign Regional Manager for the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, a founding member of the Strategic Alliance, and other advocates, the City of Baldwin Park decided last week to provide "an all encompassing environment that is conductive to the health of children, which leads to better school attendance, improved behavior, lower incidence of illness, and increased attention, creativity, and academic achievement." The City of Baldwin Park resolved to provide healthy food and snacks at all youth-oriented facilities (community center, family service center, pool and parks) no later than June 2004. This is one of the first policies of its kind and we applaud the City of Baldwin Park for taking this action.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Strategic Alliance Membership Meetings: Building Momentum through Local and State Policy

This is the time to be sure that our collective voice is heard, as our state legislators are starting consider bills for the upcoming legislative agenda. We need your ideas and input as we shape the Strategic Alliance agenda! Come to network, share what you are doing and help us think through priorities for action. Contact Manal Aboelata of Prevention Institute at 323-296-5750 for more information. Please RSVP to sa@preventioninstitute.org.

Wednesday, December 10th: Bay Area
2:30 - 5 pm
One Kaiser Plaza (22nd Floor, Multi-Purpose Room)
21st Street (Between Harrison and Webster)
Oakland, CA 94611

Thursday, January 8th: Orange County
10:30 am -12:30 pm
Latino Health Access
1226 North Broadway
Santa Ana, CA 92706
714-542-7792

Save the Date!

3rd Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference
Portland, Oregon
January 22-24, 2004

The Strategic Alliance is a cosponsor of the 3rd Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference, and exciting and educational gathering of the many professions working together to create more livable communities. This multi-disciplinary event will highlight cutting-edge smart-growth issues and features the latest research, implementation tools and strategies, successful case studies, new partners, new projects, and new policies. Visit the conference website at http://www.outreach.psu.edu/C&I/SmartGrowth to register online and get more details on the conference, or feel free to contact Michele Kelso (mkelso@lgc.org) or Dave Defanti (ddefanti@lgc.org) with any questions. Join us to catch up on what's new in smart growth!

NEWS WE CAN USE

Strategic Alliance Members Speak Out!

Larry Cohen, founding member of the Strategic Alliance and Executive Director of Prevention Institute was mentioned in the November 20th Wall Street Journal. The article discusses PepsiCo's new advertising campaign ("It's the Cola") which features ads pairing Pepsi with unhealthy foods such as burgers, pizza, and fries. Dave Burwick, chief marketing of Pepsi-Cola North America, says "Our whole new campaign is about driving consumption of food and Pepsi." As noted in the article, "Larry Cohen... said that Pepsi is reflecting what many consumers eat, but he worries that such advertising reinforces an unhealthy diet." While the Journal's paraphrasing was accurate, Larry emphasized that Pepsi marketers were either naive or deceptive to claim that their advertising campaign had nothing to do with promoting poor habits. For the full article, visit http://bizyahoo.com/djus/031119/2036001625_2.html.

Teenager Forces Cola Deal Into the Open

Fifteen-year-old Ontario student Nicholas Dodds has won his legal battle to force Pepsi and Coke to reveal the details of their exclusive pouring contracts with Ontario public schools. The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario ordered the York Region and Peel district school boards to reveal the details of their contracts with the soda companies by December 1. "I go to a public school. I'm affected by this deal between the board and the company, but somehow I'm denied the right to know what's fully happening in the school," said Dodds, explaining why he brought the suit. Last week in Vancouver a local union obtained a confidential pouring contract under provincial freedom of information legislation, revealing that Pepsi offered schools bonuses encouraging Vancouver schools to encourage students to drink more soda. The contract stated, "Increased consumption = increased purchases = increased school revenue." For the full article, visit http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id=b2638832-915b-49d8-9f3a-662df.

Researcher Links Food Prices, Obesity

Adam Drewnowski, director of the nutritional sciences program at the University of Washington, found that, with some exceptions, fresh vegetables, fruits, fish and lean meat tend to cost more than packaged convenience foods when measured on a cents-per-calorie basis, even when including the costs of processing and packaging convenience foods. For instance, he said, most fresh fruit costs more calorie than convenience desert options, such as cookies. Drewnowski believes his research findings give added weight to food costs as a factor in the American obesity epidemic, and sees this as an argument to subsidize fresh fruits and vegetables to encourage people to eat more of those and less of the high-calorie convenience fare. For the complete article, go to http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/7022484.htm.

Unfit Children in California

Results were recently released for the Fitness Gram test administered last spring: nearly 75 percent of the 1.3 million students who took an annual fitness test at school failed to meet six basic fitness categories that included running, lifting, and stretching. This is actually an improvement over the last time the test was given: four years ago 80 percent of the students failed to meet all six fitness standards. To see results for individual schools, go to http://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/. Under subject, select Physical Fitness Results. Under level, select School.

Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study: Improvements Needed

A new mathematical survey on the feeding habits of U.S. infants and toddlers shows that they are consuming too many calories and eating inappropriate foods as young as four to six months. For example, one-third of 19 to 24 month old toddlers are not eating a single fruit in a day, and one-fifth are not eating any vegetables. By 15 months of age, French fries are the most commonly consumed vegetable for toddlers. For the complete article, visit http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/3rdLevel/infantfeeding.htm.

RESOURCES

Anyone's Guess: The Need for Nutrition Labeling at Fast-Food and Other Chain Restaurants

Center for Science in the Public Interest has published a report urging restaurants to publish their nutrition information. Because so many Americans purchase so many of their meals away from home (we spend nearly 46% of our food dollars on away-from-home foods), and currently 65% or Americans are overweight or obese, CSPI recommends that congress and/or state or local legislatures should require food-service chains with ten or more units to list on their menus the calorie, saturated, and trans fat, and sodium contents of standard menu items. Such information, clearly displayed, would allow consumers to make informed choices at restaurants and is an important strategy for reducing obesity and protecting the nation's health. For the full report, visit http://www.cspinet.org/restaurantreport.

Zero to Six: Electronic Media in the Lives of Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers

This study reports on a nationally representative random-digit-dial telephone survey of more than 1,000 parents of children ages six months through six years, conducted in the spring of 2003. The study found that in a typical day 83% of children use screen media, and 65% live in a home where the TV is on at least half the time or more. For the full Kaiser Family Foundation report, visit http://kaisernetwork.org/healthcast/kff/28oct03.

CSPI Hits Marketing Junk Food to Kids

A report issued November 10th by the Center for Science in the Public Interest states that food marketing aimed at kids undermines parental authority and helps fuel the epidemic of childhood obesity. "Parents are fighting a losing battle against food manufacturers and fast-food restaurants," said Margo G. Wootan, director of nutrition policy at CSPI and the report's author. The CSPI report identifies a plethora of ways that companies target kids in their homes, in their schools, and on the web. For a copy of the press release, visit http://www.cspinet.com/new/200311101.html. For a full copy of the report, "Pestering Parents," visit http://www.cspinet.org/pesteringparents.

WHAT IS THE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE?

The Strategic Alliance is reframing the debate on nutrition and physical activity, away from a focus on individual choice and lifestyle, towards one of environment and corporate and government responsibility. Current Steering Committee members are: California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness Program (CANFit), California Center for Public Health Advocacy, California Food Policy Advocates, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, California Project LEAN, California WIC Association, Child Care Food Program Roundtable, Latino Health Access, Prevention Institute, and Samuels & Associates.

HOW TO BECOME A MEMBER

The Strategic Alliance is currently engaged in building a broad and diverse statewide membership. To join or for more information, please visit us on the Web, or contact Leslie Mikkelsen at 510.444.7738.

And even if you're already a member, please forward this message on to your colleagues so we can continue to strengthen our coalition. Thank you!

The Strategic Alliance is supported by funding from The California Endowment and The California Wellness Foundation.

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