ATLANTA'S DEADLY FOOD DESERTS: IT'S ALL ABOUT BLACK POPULATION CONTROL

ATLANTA'S DEADLY FOOD DESERTS:

IT'S ALL ABOUT BLACK POPULATION CONTROL

DOES MAYOR KASIM REED CARE??

ATLANTA'S WORST DESERTS & DIRTIEST WATER COMMUNITIES ARE SOUTHWEST, EAST POINT & BANKHEAD.

ATLANTA, Ga is the birthplace of Civil rights beacon Dr Martin Luther King Jr, a regional Mecca "too busy to hate", Hub for Southeastern Federal Govt offices and home of the Real Housewives of Atlanta.

ATLANTA is also a city infamously known for its many FOOD DESERTS and Poor Quality, Bacteria-filled Drinking water.

How can such a Progressive, Wealthy city of six millions residents, mostly BLACK, with so much Business Commerce, allow the majority of its BLACK citizens to prematurely Die from preventable diseases I.e. Obesity, Cancer, Diabetes, Kidney Failure and HIV, all of which derive from Atlanta's Food Deserts, abundance of Greasy Food, and Bacteria-Filled drinking water?

Is this being done intentionally for the purpose of Killing off low income BLACK residents of Atlanta?

~ Starving for nutrition

Poor diets and inaccessibility to healthy foods are creating a crisis of chronic disease.


By Gracie Bonds Staples | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

In many ways, Evie and Ricky Sanders are lucky, and they know it.

On a good day, if their used 2004 Honda Pilot isn’t on the blink, it takes them no more than 10 minutes to drive the 10 miles from their home in Cumming to the nearest Kroger.

Ricky, 57, is a former flower nursery worker who is HIV-positive and struggles with the side effects of his medications. His wife, Evie, 58, is a former nursing assistant who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. They live in a three-bedroom wood frame house atop a small hill in rural Forsyth County, where they eke out a living from $1,500 in monthly disability checks and $25 a month in food stamps.

What the Sanders have learned is that, for them at least, even good days have a bad side.

“Most of our shopping is done from the carts where the markdowns are,” Evie says. “We can’t afford name brands.”

To make ends meet, they rely on the monthly supply of staples they get from There’s Hope for the Hungry, a nonprofit organization that feeds 26,000 North Georgia families a year, many of whom, like the Sanders, live in what the USDA calls food deserts. Their homes are located in low-income areas more than one mile from a supermarket or other reliable source of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Nearly 2 million Georgia residents, including about 500,000 children, live in food deserts. The USDA has classified more than 35 food deserts inside the Perimeter. More border I-285 in the suburbs of Cobb, South Fulton and east DeKalb counties.

Some experts say there is a direct correlation between food deserts and the state’s high rates of obesity and chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and cancers. Stroke and heart disease are among the top three leading causes of death in Georgia, accounting for nearly one-third of all deaths in the state.

One day last January, the Sanders piled into their black Honda and headed to Kroger before the weekend rush. Ricky tuned the radio to 99.3 FM, his favorite country station.

Five minutes later they pulled into the parking lot and headed inside. Evie made a beeline to the restroom on the other side of the store while Ricky secured a shopping cart and waited near the store’s produce section.

He doesn’t make a move without her.

They are a team, and this day was no different.






Sources: AJC, YouTube

Michelle Obama Vs. "Food Deserts" (Fresh Produce; Fighting Obesity)

Big Retailers Make Pledge of Stores for ‘Food Deserts’

Executives from Wal-Mart, Walgreens, SuperValu and other stores joined Michelle Obama at the White House on Wednesday to announce a pledge to open or expand a combined 1,500 stores in communities that have limited access to nutritious food and are designated as “food deserts.”

With the pledges, secured by the Partnership for a Healthier America, which is part of Mrs. Obama’s campaign to reduce childhood obesity, the stores aim to reach 9.5 million of the 23.5 million Americans who live in areas where finding affordable healthy foods can be difficult. In those areas, many people turn to fast food restaurants or convenience stores.

“The commitments that you all are making today have the potential to be a game changer,” Mrs. Obama said at the event. “When these stores succeed, they can serve as anchors in our communities.”

The Department of Agriculture defines “food deserts” as low-income areas where more than 500 people or 33 percent of the population lives more than one mile from an affordable food store. In rural towns, the distance is 10 miles.

Walgreens, the Illinois-based retailer with more than 7,000 stores, pledged to reach 4.8 million people in such areas by turning 1,000 of its locations into “food oasis stores” that will sell fruit, vegetables and other groceries that they do not typically stock.

Wal-Mart said it would open or expand food sections in 275 to 300 stores by 2016, employing an estimated 40,000 people. SuperValu, which owns many regional grocery chains like Jewel-Osco and ACME, will open 250 new Save-A-Lot stores in five years.

Childhood obesity is a signature cause adopted by Mrs. Obama. One of every three American children is overweight or obese, leading some scientists to predict that today’s youth could become the first generation to have shorter lives than the previous generation, according to the White House.

Mrs. Obama said that food deserts, where 6.5 million American children live, contribute to the phenomenon. The government and the private sector need to work together to eliminate food deserts, she said.

“With your commitments today, you all are showing us what’s possible,” Mrs. Obama said. “This isn’t some mysterious issue that we can’t address. We know the answer. It is right there.”

The Obama administration’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative, begun by Mrs. Obama in February 2010, aims to financially assist stores that open in food deserts.

The initiative received a $35 million budget this year, well short of the hundreds of millions requested by President Obama. The administration asked for more than $300 million to be approved for it in the next budget.

In 2009, New York started its Food Retail Expansion to Support Health, or Fresh program, a joint state-city effort that offers incentives to stores to open in underserved communities. Fresh is credited with being one of the largest efforts to combat food deserts at a state or local level.


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Sources: Huffington Post, NY Times, Progress Illinois, White House, Youtube, Google Maps

Brooklyn Farmer's Market A Huge Success! Fighting Obesity!

Real life FarmVille Brooklyn - borough has more farms than any other, giving access to healthy food


Forget the trees. More farms grow in Brooklyn than any other borough.

Community-run plots are springing up in poor neighborhoods better known for bodegas and fast food, bringing fresh and affordable produce to the places that need it most.

In parking lots, schoolyards and even between apartment buildings, Brooklyn farms have sprouted up this year like never before.

"People are planting farms wherever they can find space," said Stacey Murphy, founder of the Youth Farm at the High School for Public Service on Kingston Ave., in East Flatbush. "Brooklyn's got more farms because there's room for them and people are motivated to do it."

The Secret Garden Farm in Bushwick opened in May - between two apartment buildings on busy Linden St. About half of all sales come from food stamps.

"We aren't here for the trendy residents," said farm manager Kendall Morrison, 47, of Bushwick. "We're here for the neighborhood folks."

Tarah Auguste, a nurse from Bushwick, visits the market on Linden St. every week to buy vegetables for her family.

"In this neighborhood you only have a couple of options for food and most of them are questionable," said Auguste, 33.

"I love the fact that I'm digesting natural food."

The Youth Farm at the High School for Public Service transformed a vacant schoolyard into a colorful 10,000-square-foot farm. Also, in a school parking lot in Bensonhurst, another farm will open next spring.

The new farms join four older farms in Red Hook, East New York and Bed-Stuy that are doing more business than ever.

They grow everything from collard greens to tomatoes and sell their goods at markets during the harvest season of May to November.

The farms and markets are good news in neighborhoods where healthy food is hard to come by, said city Health Department assistant commissioner Dr. Aletha Maybank.

Seven out of 10 central Brooklyn adults are overweight or obese and 45% of kids are in the same boat, she said.

"People don't have enough access to healthy food," said Maybank. "These farms are helping to change that."

With more farms and markets taking food stamps, more residents of low income neighborhoods are willing to shop at them, she said. Four years ago, only four farmers' markets in Brooklyn accepted food stamps. Now there are 18.

At East New York Farms, about 60% of the 70,000 pounds of fresh vegetables and fruit sold at the farmers' market each season are paid for with food stamps.

"I'd rather spend my money on healthy stuff than unhealthy supermarket products," said Janet Brown, 42, a skin therapist who lost 26 pounds this year in part, she says, because she's eating more fresh produce from the East New York farm.

"Many people in this neighborhood are obese," said Brown. "Now they have healthier choices."


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Sources: NY Daily News, Youtube, Google Maps

Stopping Food Stamp Fraud Helps Combat Childhood Obesity

One way to help end Childhood Obesity would be to Reform our Nation's Food Stamp program.

My family doesn't use Food Stamps however I know many people who do.

I frequently see Mothers (Married and Single) in Grocery Stores purchasing Junk Food with their Food Stamps. (Candy, Gum, Ice Cream, Cookies, Chips, Pizza, French Fries, etc.,)

Rarely do I see any of these people purchasing Fruits and Vegetables or Wheat Bread to feed their children.

(I can only speak about what occurs in my region: Charlotte, NC)

In addition many of those Women sell their Stamps or EBT Cards to help pay bills.

To make matters worse many DSS Workers are also stealing Food Stamps by intentionally helping their clients Fraud the system.

Something is wrong with this picture.

Isn't this just as Illegal and Wasteful as Medicare/ Medicaid Fraud?

During the Bi-Partisan Health Care Summit earlier this year, Senator Tom Colburn advocated reforming the Food Stamp system to help combat Childhood Obesity.

I concur with him on this suggestion.

Why?

Not only is our Current Food Stamp program contributing to Childhood Obesity but its making criminals out of people.

It's time for the Obama Administration to consider Reforming Food Stamp program and include more Checks & Balances which should also apply to local DSS department employees nationwide.






Challenging The Childhood Obesity System


Last month, to great fanfare, First Lady Michelle Obama announced her Let's Move initiative to combat childhood obesity.

Tuesday's signing of the historic health reform bill assures that more children, once obese, will actually be able to get treatment for it. The bad news is how ineffective and expensive most obesity treatment actually is. America currently spends $147 billion a year on obesity-related illness.

What's been missing historically is any recognition that the biggest bang for our taxpayer dollars is to prevent kids from getting overweight and obese in the first place. And that's why the White House initiative is so important. It starts the process of making kids' food in schools and communities healthier.

But ultimately, we need to put a spotlight on the fact that our national obesity epidemic is but a single symptom of a more serious illness: our unhealthy food system.

In order to prescribe healthier food, we must rethink the entire system, from the farm to our children's mouths. We wrote about the need for this healthier food system in this month's Health Affairs, which was devoted to child obesity.

Researchers now link obesity with diets rich in added sugars, fats, and refined grains, and of course in the snacks, sweets, beverages and fast foods in which they are so prominent. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture data, in 2007 Americans' average daily calorie intake was 400 calories higher than in 1985, and 600 calories higher than in 1970.

Suprising to many is that the ultimate source of so many of these added calories in the American food supply can be traced to two crops: corn (sweeteners) and soybeans (fats and oils).

But it shouldn't be surprising. For the past 35 years, U.S. farm policy has incentivized the production of a few commodity crops (like corn and soybeans), and the calories that come from them.

In the early 20th century through the 1950s, production of these crops was seen as essential to addressing under-nutrition in the U.S., and throughout the world. U.S. farmers responded by dramatically increasing yields -- up to 600 times higher now than in 1920.

At the same time, depression-era farm programs recognized that overproduction of these crops risked the prices for them plunging below what farmers needed to make a living, or rising above what consumers could afford. As a result, these programs managed supply of these commodities, to keep prices relatively stable, and to keep farmers in business and making money.

But from 1965 through 1996, these supply management programs were gradually dismantled. U.S. farm policy today is designed instead to encourage farmers to grow as much as possible of these few commodity crops, utilizing several different types of subsidies, crop insurance and taxpayer-supported research. Quite rationally, farmers have followed these policy signals, making significant capital investments (new combines, irrigation systems, etc.) to produce these crops.

As a cheap calorie policy, U.S. farm policy has been a success. Foods high in fats, sugars and calories, such as cooking oils, snacks, fast foods and sugared sodas, are some of the cheapest foods in the American diet. But for public health, U.S. farm policy's focus on a few commodities is outdated.

We know, for example, that diets rich in fruits and vegetables can help manage weight and lower risks for cancer and other chronic diseases, especially when they replace calorie-dense, nutrient-poor foods. Yet fewer than one in 10 Americans meet the levels of fruits and vegetable consumption recommended under the latest calorie-specific, healthy eating guidelines. And farm policy historically has overlooked incentives for fruit and vegetable production.

So how do we get farm policy and public health on the same page?

As a start, the executive branch needs to pull together disparate health and agriculture communities around food policy. There needs to be a Healthy Foods Commission -- and it has to be independent. Such a commission, comprised of non-governmental public health, agriculture and food system experts, could work closely with the Administration's Task Force on Childhood Obesity to ensure upstream and downstream food system goals are mutually reinforcing.

Second, America's farmers have got to be key partners in this healthier food system. If the nation is serious about making fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods more accessible, policymakers need to offer at least as much research, financial and other support to growers of these foods as has been offered for decades to growers of commodity crops.

Specific policies to accomplish this might include: reinstating programs to manage oversupply of commodity crops and calories; support for current farmers transitioning from commodity to other crop production; new farmer recruitment, financing and training; an agriculture research agenda that includes a more diverse mix of crops and farming methods; and allowing farmers growing fruit and vegetable to participate in commodity programs of the farm bill.

Third, we need to raise the standards for the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs. These programs should be required to meet the USDA's healthy eating guidelines and this should be codified in the Child Nutrition Act, expected to be voted on soon by Congress.

Today, the quality of the calories produced by U.S. agriculture may be at least as important as their quantity. For us to make long-lasting progress on obesity, we must heal the symptom's source: an unhealthy food system.

Let's move!


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Sources: Huffington Post, My Fox Atlanta, Newsweek, NY Times, WRAL, Youtube, Google Maps

GOP Is Winning Health Care Summit Debate! Stop Food Stamp Abuse! Undercover Patients

Today I watched Pres. Obama's "Bi-Partisan" Health Care Summit meeting.

After reviewing this televised talkfest, it appears the GOP won.

Barack Obama is a Gifted Orator, however its obvious he can't speak as well without his Teleprompter (prepared remarks).

For once he was actually at a loss for words can you believe it?

When it was time for Dr. Tom Coburn (R) to speak he presented three great Health Care Reform ideas:

1) STOP FOOD STAMP ABUSE by encouraging people who use Food Stamps to purchase Healthy Foods via program Incentives.

Its no secret thousands of citizens who use Food stamps often sell them or waste them buying Candy, Chips, Cake, Ice Cream and Gum for their children versus Fruits/ Vegetables.

Such poor diets cause Childhood Obesity and Diabetes.

Why not hire more DSS Workers and require Food Stamp Users to turn in their receipts each month as to keep tabs on what's actually being purchased?

This will also deter the selling of Food Stamps.

I'm NOT suggesting eliminating Food Stamps in this Recession.

However I do agree with Dr. Coburn that the Food Stamp program needs to be highly monitored nationwide to prevent and STOP FOOD STAMP ABUSE.


2) Address Medicaid/ Medicare Fraud by sending Under Cover Patients to Physicians Offices' as a means of catching Doctors and Hospital Administrators who overbill the Federal Gov't.

This is especially so in states like New York and North Carolina.


3) Dr. Coburn also mentioned rewarding Physicians who provide Quality Patient Care versus Doctors who just keep ordering a bunch of unnecessary tests to make money.


Republican members appeared Studious, Well-Informed and Well-Prepared for this debate versus Democrats who were just repeating empty Political, Harvard rhetoric.

I'm very disappointed.

Its obvious Democrats just want to ram this particular Health Care Bill through regardless of whom it will hurt most financially...American Voters.

Check out the Health Care Summit video below Stay tuned.






Sen. Tom Coburn Discusses Cost Containment At The White House Health Summit


MCCONNELL: Mr. President, since some liberties have been taken here, let me just make a quick observation. Then I'm going to call on Dr. Coburn to make our framing statement on the issue of cost containment.

One thing I think we need to be acutely aware of, ladies and gentlemen, we are here representing the American people. And Harry mentioned several polls. I think it is not irrelevant that the American people, if you average out of all of the polls, are opposed to this bill by 55-37. And we know from a USA Today-Gallup poll out this morning they're opposed to using the reconciliation device, the short-circuit approach that Lamar referred to that would end up with only bipartisan opposition, by 52-39.

Now, I'd like to call on Dr. Tom Coburn who's been a practicing physician for many years, to address the cost-containment issue.

COBURN: Thank you.

Well, Mr. President, thanks for having us do this. I think today's going to be enlightening.

The first thing I would do is put out a caution to us because what I see the Congress doing and what I saw this last year is us actually performing bad medicine. And that is that we get stuck in the idea of treating the symptom rather than treating the disease.

And whether you go to Harvard or whether you go to Thomson Reuters, here's -- there are some facts we know about health care in America. And the facts we know is one out of every three dollars that gets spent doesn't help anybody get well and doesn't prevent anybody from getting sick.

The second thing we know is, from the Congressional Research Service, that most of the mal-drivers (ph) today in health care come from government rules and regulations. The government now directs over 60 percent of the health care in this country. And if throwing money at it and creating new government programs could solve it, we wouldn't be sitting here today because we've done all that. It hadn't worked. So what I thought we ought to do is maybe talk about why does it cost so much, because the thing that keeps people from getting access to care in our country is cost.

You mentioned Malia and Sasha. The fact is, is with young kids going to the E.R., whether they have meningitis or asthma, they're going to get treated in this country. But they may get labeled with a preexisting illness after that. And that's another thing I'd be happy to talk about at a later time.

But the fact is, is we know how to treat acute asthma. What we don't do a good job of is preventing children from getting acute asthma. We don't do the good job of prevention.

So when you break down the costs, what we know is 33 percent of the costs in health care shouldn't be there.

And how do we go about doing that? And what are the components of that cost? And when you look at, when it's studied, if you look at what Malcolm Sparrow from Harvard says, he says 20 percent of the cost of federal government health care is fraud. That's his number.

If you look at Thomson Reuters, when they look at all of this, they say at least 15 percent of government-run health care is fraud.

Well, when you look at the total amount of health care that's government run, you know, you're talking $150 billion a year.

So tomorrow, if we got together and fixed fraud, we could cut health care 7.5 percent tomorrow for people in this country.

So what we ought to do is do the Willie Sutton thing. We ought to go for where the money is.

What's the other area? What we do know -- and I'm guilty of this, Dr. Barrasso's guilty of it, Dr. Boustany is guilty of it -- is a large portion of the tests we order every day aren't for patients. They're for doctors. And the reason they're there is because we are risk averse to the tort system and extortion system that's out there today in health care.

And there are a lot of ways to fix that. But I just went through last night, if you add up what Thomson Reuters, which looked at all the studies that have been done and combined them in, they say between $625 billion and $850 billion a year of health care dollars are wasted.

So it seems to me if cost is the number one thing that's keeping people from getting care, then the efforts of us, as we go after cost, ought to be to go to those areas where the cost is wasted.

And there's a philosophical difference in how we do that. One wants more government-centered approach to that. I would personally prefer a more patient-centered, market-orient approach to that. But nevertheless, there's where we can come together, just on those two areas, where we could cut costs 15 percent tomorrow. And that's for everybody in the country.

What would -- what would happen to access in this country if tomorrow everybody's health care costs went down 15 percent? Access would markedly increase.

So what I would hope we would do is that we would go back and concentrate on the areas that have the biggest pot of gold for us. And the biggest pot of gold is, is we don't incentivize prevention. We don't pay rewards for great management of chronic disease. We have a system throughout the country where we're encouraging lawsuits that aren't productive for the country, and what they actually do is cause the cost of health care to go through the roof.

We also know there's some other real things that we ought to address. There are conflict of interests within the medical field. There's nothing wrong with addressing those and taking those off (ph).

We know that we do not -- we absolutely do not incentivize prevention. And I'm not talking about creating walking paths. I'm talking about paying people who actually do a good job to do prevention.

Talking about changing the school lunch programs where it meets the needs, nutritional needs of Americans. Changing the food stamp program where it incentivize people to eat the right things, not the wrong things. We actually create more diabetes through the food stamp program and the school lunch program than probably any other thing, because we're not feeding a -- offering and incentivizing a great response.

COBURN: So I think if -- I think it's great that we're coming together. But the gold is in where's the cost excesses? And what I would hope we would do is we would look at that and say, How do we come together and actually achieve a reduction in the extortion that goes on in this country in terms of medical malpractice? And there's lots of ways to do that without us mandating states to do that.

How do we do that in terms of creating an elimination of fraud?

You know, when you compare the private sector fraud rates, it's 1 percent compared to Medicare and Medicaid. You know, there's estimates that there's $15 billion worth of fraud in Medicaid a year in New York City alone.

So we haven't attacked that. We haven't gone where the money is. And my hope would be that we would look at where the money is. And if truly it's accurate -- and I don't know many people that will disagree that $1 in $3 doesn't help somebody get well and doesn't prevent it, then we ought to be going for that $1 in $3.

And we ought to do it by not creating a whole bunch of new government programs, but by creating an incentive to reward people. In your new bill you have good fraud programs, but you lack the biggest thing to do. The biggest thing on fraud is to have undercover patients so that people know we're checking on whether or not this is a legitimate bill. And you don't know who's an undercover patient and who's not. And all of a sudden you start changing your attitude of whether or not you're going to milk Medicare or you're going to milk Medicaid.

REID (?): Mr. President, if I could just say, I'm not an expert on much, but I am filibusters. And we've got 40 members of Congress here.

OBAMA: Tom, you made some powerful points. You want to just wrap up real quick?

COBURN: No, I'll just finish with that is $1 out of $3 not helping everybody, we ought to go for where it is.

OBAMA: Well, Tom, I appreciate what you said. I think we're going to have Steny Hoyer go next. I just want to make this quick point: Every good idea that we've heard about reducing fraud and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid system, we've adopted in our legislation.

So that's an example of where we agree. We want to eliminate fraud and abuse within the government systems.

Let's recognize, though, that those savings in the government systems, which will help taxpayers and allow us to do more, doesn't account for the rising costs in the private marketplace.

Now, the private marketplace, you mentioned the issue of medical malpractice and, you know, frivolous lawsuits. And I -- as you indicated, these are areas where Secretary Sebelius has already begun to try to give states some incentives to do that.

On the prevention side, there's a whole host of provisions inside the legislation that's been passed by the House and Senate, and I think Steny will talk about it.

So we've identified some areas we agree on. And then the question just is does that help the average family in the individual market who potentially can get costs.

But, Steny, why don't you...

COBURN: Let me just respond to one thing. You get cost shifted every penny that gets wasted on Medicare.

OBAMA: Absolutely.

COBURN: And that gets cost shifted to the private sector. So if, in fact, we're wasting...

OBAMA: It would help.

COBURN: ... in the public sector, we're shifting it to the private sector.

OBAMA: You and I agree.


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Sources: MSNBC, Washington Post, Google Maps

Kevin Smith Rants On Being Pegged "Too Fat To Fly" (WARNING: Profanity)

Kevin Smith "Too Fat" To Fly Southwest


Kevin Smith's most famous role is a guy who rarely speaks. But he's got a lot to say -- much of it profane -- after being kicked off a Southwest Air flight because he didn't fit comfortably into the seat.

"You [messed] with the wrong sedentary processed-foods eater!" Smith, whose next film, "Cop Out," comes out February 26, posted on Twitter.

It was one of many Tweets recounting the actor/director's humiliating expulsion Saturday from the Oakland-to-Burbank, California, flight.

Southwest said in a statement airline officials had called Smith to offer their "heartfelt apologies," but also stated his removal was for the "safety and comfort of all customers."

Smith, 39, originally purchased two tickets "as he's been known to do when traveling Southwest," the airline noted, but when he decided to fly standby on an earlier flight, only one seat remained. Although he had been seated, he was asked to leave.

"If a customer cannot comfortably lower the armrest and infringes on a portion of another seat, a customer seated adjacent would be very uncomfortable and a timely exit from the aircraft in the event of an emergency might be compromised if we allow a cramped, restricted seating arrangement," Southwest said.

I'm Fat

Smith, who played Silent Bob in his "Clerks" movies and who has battled his weight for years -- "I know I'm fat," he confesses -- was given a $100 voucher and arrived in Burbank on a later flight. But he was in no mood to accept an apology.

"I broke no regulation, offered no 'safety risk' (what, was I gonna roll on a fellow passenger?)" he tweeted. "I saw someone bigger than me on THAT flight! But I wasn't about to throw a fellow Fatty under the plane as I'm being profiled. But he & I made eye contact, & he was like 'Please don't tell...'"

After landing in Burbank, Smith wrote, "Don't worry: wall of the plane was opened & I was airlifted out while Richard Simmons supervised."

Smith added that while the ordeal was embarrassing, his "Jersey Girl training" (the 2004 flop starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez) was helping him cope.

See full article at PEOPLE.com

Sources: People, CNN, Twitter, The Daily Beast, Southwest Airlines

Michelle Obama On Larry King Live: Childhood Obesity, Health Care, etc.,

First Lady: Childhood Obesity Fight Is About Fitness, Not Looks


Michelle Obama says her call for the country to fight childhood obesity isn't about physical appearances, but rather quality of life.

"Teachers are seeing the challenges that kids with weight issues are having -- not being able to participate in gym, feeling a little more sluggish," the first lady told CNN's "Larry King Live" on Tuesday. "It's not about weight ... it's about fitness and it's about overall nutrition."

Obama earlier Tuesday introduced the "Let's Move" campaign, which aims to reduce childhood obesity in the United States within a generation. Obama asked parents, teachers, physicians, coaches and kids to get involved and suggested they look at the new Let's Move Web site for helpful tips, strategies and updates on beating obesity in children.

The first lady, during the "Larry King Live" interview, said a doctor got her own family to take a hard look at its exercise and eating habits, even though she thought she already was doing everything she could to promote healthy lifestyles for her own grade-school daughters.

The family, while her husband was campaigning, was eating too much fast food, she said. A pediatrician "saw a little uptick in the kids' [body mass index], and he kind of pulled me aside," she said.

"I was shocked at first because I thought I was doing what I was supposed to do, and I hadn't noticed any changes in my kids, so it was a little bit shocking and a little disorienting," Obama said. "But I went home, and it was kind of a wake-up call, and we made some changes even with busy schedules."

The changes, she said, included smaller portion sizes, more cooked meals, a dessert ban on weekdays and substituting sugary drinks with milk, water and fresh-squeezed juices. "The point is that small changes made a difference," she said.

That interview aired hours after she announced the Let's Move initiative at the White House. The program focuses on what families, communities and the public and private sectors can do to help fight childhood obesity, which she and health experts have termed an epidemic in the United States.

"There are more and more kids with type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure today than ever before. Things we used to see only in adults," she said at the White House.

From more farmers markets to increasing physical activity in schools or expanding and modernizing the President's Physical Fitness Challenge, the first lady said the Obama administration will partner with public health professionals and private companies to address the obesity issue.

"About one-third of our children are overweight or obese. None of us want that for our country," she said. "It's time to get moving."

Mayors, doctors, members of the Cabinet, and leaders in sports, entertainment and business joined the first lady for the announcement.

Former NFL player Tiki Barber introduced several speakers, including a pediatrician, an urban farmer and mayors from Mississippi and Massachusetts.

President Obama signed a memorandum earlier Tuesday morning establishing a federal task force to tackle childhood obesity, calling it "one of the most urgent health issues that we face in this country."

"We think that this has enormous promise in improving the health of our children, in giving support to parents to make the kinds of healthy choices that oftentimes are very difficult," he said.

The task force, according to the memorandum, will have 90 days to craft a plan encouraging "optimal coordination" between the federal government and both the private and nonprofit sectors. Several Cabinet members, including the secretaries of Interior, Agriculture and Health and Human Services, will serve on the task force to complement Michelle Obama's public awareness effort.

In the weeks leading up to the announcement, the first lady urged America's parents to turn off the television, drink more water and serve smaller portions to curb the growing public health problem.

She stressed that parents need the tools to make it easier to understand how to help their kids stay healthy. She said many parents know certain foods are bad for their kids, but don't know the solutions.

"They feel like the deck is stacked against them. They feel guilty," she said. "We need to help them."

The administration, in partnership with public health professionals and private companies, will address these issues in several ways:

First, according to Obama, package labels should be easier to read.

By the end of the year, the Food and Drug Administration will begin working with retailers and manufacturers to adopt new nutritionally sound and consumer friendly front-of-package labeling to provide 65 million parents in America and other caregivers with easy access to the information they need to make healthy choices for their children.

The average soda contains 110 calories, yet many kids drink one or more a day. In an effort to make kids and parents more aware of these calories, the American Beverage Association has voluntarily committed to put calorie labels on the front of its cans, bottles, vending and fountain machines within two years. The label will reflect total calories per container, up to 20 ounces and 12-ounce serving size in multiserve containers.

School lunches also will play a big role.

According to the White House, on school days, many American children consume more than half their daily calories at school, and more than 30 million of these kids participate in the National School Lunch Program.

With this program, students will have access to healthier food in schools through several initiatives:

• The Obama administration is requesting an investment of an additional $10 billion over 10 years, starting in 2011, to improve the quality of the school lunch and breakfast programs, increase the number of kids participating and ensure that schools have the resources they need to make program changes.

• With the money, more fruits, vegetables, whole-grain foods and low-fat dairy products will be served in school cafeterias.

• Major school food suppliers are to decrease the sugar, fat and salt in school meals over 10 years, and also increase whole grains and produce served within 10 years.

Obama also set an ambitious goal to eliminate food deserts, which are areas with limited access to affordable and nutritious food.

"Let's move to ensure all our families have access to healthy, affordable food in their communities," she said. "We're making a commitment to completely eliminating food deserts in America. And we plan to do that within seven years."

The Center for Science in the Public Interest applauded Obama for taking on childhood obesity.

The "first lady has the clout and visibility to change that and mobilize the nation's resources to address the problem," the nonprofit health advocacy group said.

Obama encouraged doctors and parents to work together to help kids stay healthy.

In this initiative, the American Academy of Pediatrics will educate its members about obesity to make sure pediatricians regularly measure a child's body mass index and identify a weight problem early. If a child is getting heavy, the physician can write an official prescription for healthy, active living.

Body mass index is a number -- calculated from height, weight, age and gender -- that measures body fat.

On Tuesday, Dr. Judith Palfrey, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said there are ways to encourage activity -- like making charts recording children's TV time and having children set jump-roping, running and fitness goals.

"This is a long-term commitment to our children's health," she said. "It will take a concerted effort among all of us -- the whole nation -- to create healthier communities for our children. We must take on this challenge."

The number of overweight children ages 6 to 19 has tripled since 1970, a 2007 New England Journal of Medicine study found.

Obama concluded her statements quoting President Franklin Roosevelt.

"We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future."


Sources: CNN, Larry King Live, Let's Move.gov

Michelle Obama Launches Childhood Obesity Prevention Program..."Let's Move!"

First Lady Calls For United Effort To Fight Childhood Obesity


Michelle Obama is telling America that it's time to get moving.

In a news conference at noon Tuesday at the White House, the First Lady introduced a national effort to combat childhood obesity.

"We're determined to take on one of the most serious threats -- and that's the epidemic of childhood obesity today," she said.

Called The Let's Move campaign, the program focuses on what families, communities and the public and private sectors can do to help fight childhood obesity, which she and health experts have termed an epidemic in the United States. The campaign aims to take steps to reduce childhood obesity within a generation.

Mayors, doctors, members of the Cabinet, and leaders in sports, entertainment and business joined the First Lady.

Former NFL player Tiki Barber introduced several speakers including a pediatrician, an urban farmer, and mayors from Mississippi and Massachusetts.

President Obama signed a memorandum earlier Tuesday morning establishing a federal task force to tackle childhood obesity, calling it "one of the most urgent health issues that we face in this country."

"We think that this has enormous promise in improving the health of our children, in giving support to parents to make the kinds of healthy choices that oftentimes are very difficult."

The task force, according to the memorandum, will have 90 days to craft a plan encouraging "optimal coordination" between the federal government and both the private and nonprofit sectors. Several Cabinet members, including the secretaries of Interior, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services, will serve on the task force to complement Obama's public awareness effort.

In the weeks leading up to the announcement, the first lady urged America's parents to turn off the television, drink more water and serve smaller portions to curb the growing public health problem.

Obama was to comment on how many parents understand the impact of unhealthy food choices and the lack of exercise on their children's health, yet don't know how to make the simple changes to help their kids.

The administration, in partnership with public health professionals and private companies will address these issues in several ways:

First, according to Obama, package labels should be easier to read.

By the end of the year, the Food and Drug Administration will begin working with retailers and manufacturers to adopt new nutritionally sound and consumer friendly front-of-package labeling to provide 65 million parents in America and other caregivers with easy access to the information they need to make healthy choices for their children.

The first lady is also expected to emphasize the need to cut calories.

The average soda contains 110 calories, yet many kids drink one or more a day. In an effort to make kids and parents more aware of these calories, the American Beverage Association has voluntarily committed to put calorie labels on all of front of its cans, bottles, vending and fountain machines within two years. The label will reflect total calories per container, up to 20 ounces and 12-ounce serving size in multiserve containers.

And school lunches also play a big role.

According to the White House, on school days, many American children consume more than half their daily calories at school, and more than 30 million of these kids participate in the National School Lunch Program.

With this program, students will have access to healthier food in schools through several initiatives:

The Obama administration is requesting an investment of an additional $10 billion over 10 years, starting in 2011, to improve the quality of the school lunch and breakfast programs, increase the number of kids participating and ensure that schools have the resources they need to make program changes.

With the money, more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products will be served in school cafeterias.

Major school food suppliers are to decrease the sugar, fat and salt in school meals over 10 years, and also increase whole grains and produce served within 10 years.

The first lady encouraged doctors and parents to work together to help kids stay healthy.

In this initiative, the American Academy of Pediatrics will educate their members about obesity to make sure pediatricians measure a child's body mass index on a regular basis and identify a weight problem early. If a child is getting heavy, the physician can write an official prescription for healthy, active living.

Body mass index is a number -- calculated from height, weight, age and gender -- that measures body fat.

On Tuesday, Dr. Judith Palfrey, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said there are ways to encourage activity -- like making charts recording children's TV time and having children set jump-roping, running and fitness goals.

"This is a long-term commitment to our children's health," she said. "It will take a concerted effort among all of us -- the whole nation to create healthier communities for our children. We must take on this challenge."

During a speech last month at a Virginia YMCA, the first lady spoke about health issues caused by childhood obesity.

"We've seen the surge in obesity in this country is nothing short of a public health crisis, and it's threatening our children, it's threatening our families, and more importantly it's threatening the future of this nation," she said. "Higher rates of obesity are directly linked, as you've heard, to higher rates of chronic illnesses like heart disease and cancer and diabetes."

The number of overweight children ages 6 to 19 has tripled since 1970, a 2007 New England Journal of Medicine study found.

During her speech at the YMCA, Michelle Obama shared strategies she has used with her own children.

She helped her daughters stay active by limiting television watching, she said. The first lady also cut back on meal sizes and sugary drinks, and added more fruits, vegetables and water to their diet.

"It was really very minor stuff. But these small changes resulted in some really significant improvements," Obama said.


Sources: CNN

Toddler Denied Coverage For Being Too Small...We Need Health Care Reform Now!

(Petite toddler denied insurance: A 2-year-old in Colorado has been denied health insurance for being underweight. Her parents appeared on the TODAY Show.)

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(Baby denied insurance for being too fat: A Colorado couple was initially denied health insurance for their 4-month-old son because he was overweight. NBC’s Michael Okwu reports and NBC’s chief medical editor, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, weighs in.)

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Toddler denied insurance for being too small

First, a Colorado baby was turned down for health insurance for being too big. Now, another Colorado child has been turned down for health insurance for being too small.

Just a week after TODAY highlighted the story of 4-month-old Alex Lange, who at 17 pounds was considered obese, the show presented Wednesday the equally curious case of 2-year-old Aislin Bates, who at 22 pounds was turned down for health insurance for not meeting a proposed insurer’s height and weight standards.

Aislin’s dad, Robert Bates, told TODAY’s Erin Burnett he was shocked that United HealthCare turned down their request for coverage when their daughter is basically a picture of health, having suffered nothing more than a common cold in her life. Doctors have told Robert and his wife, Rachel, that Aislin’s small size is purely a matter of genes, not ill health.

“It seems as if they’re discriminating about the fact that she’s smaller, that her size is an issue,” Robert Bates said. “I don’t see why that would be a factor in whether or not a child is healthy.”

Bates told TODAY that he and his family were previously insured by United HealthCare. Two months after Aislin was born, his employer switched plans to Guardian Health Insurance. In August, Bates left his job to become self-employed, and he went back to United HealthCare requesting coverage. The insurer turned down coverage for Aislin — even though it had already insured Aislin as an infant — stating she did not meet height and weight standards and also noting the Bateses had sought treatment for Aislin’s finicky eating habits.

Doctor says child is normal
As the Bateses appealed the decision, their own family doctor went to bat for them, writing to the insurer and stating Aislin’s small size was genetic, that she was developing normally and there was no reason to deny coverage. But Robert Bates said the company rejected the appeal, simply reiterating that Aislin didn’t meet underwriting standards.

Rachel Bates told Burnett their daughter “is not sick at all; she’s just petite, and that’s the issue.” She said little Aislin has been graded in the 3rd percentile for child height and weight, but has been progressing normally in her own range.

Robert and Rachel realized Aislin was a picky eater early on, and went the extra mile to enroll her in food therapy. But instead of earning brownie points with the insurer, the family believes having their daughter in treatment is actually being held against them.

Therapy for picky eating
“We wanted to fix her picky eating, because we want her to be able to eat a wide variety of foods, and not just things she wants to eat, like chocolate,” Rachel Bates told TODAY.

“We personally sought out therapy; it was not prescribed by a doctor. In the process, it was found that [Aislin] has just a minor, minor gag reflex, causing her to not like certain foods. But the therapist says she’s thriving and fine, and she’s developing normally and in fact, possibly advanced.”

Appearing on TODAY with the Bates family, which also includes 3-month-old boy Elliott, Dr. Nancy Snyderman quickly broke in when Burnett professed she didn’t understand what the problem is with insuring Aislin.

“You don’t understand? Because there’s nothing here to understand,” Snyderman said. “This is just so bogus. A pre-existing condition for a child this age is birth, let’s be real!”

The case of Alex Lange had a happy ending. After the family appeared on TODAY, Rocky Mountain Health Plans reversed its decision and agreed to insure the child, and admitted there was a flaw in its underwriting system.

‘Cherry-picking of health plans’
Robert Bates, to date, has had no such luck. While he continues to lobby United HealthCare to cover Aislin, the family has been forced to look at other options. Aislin is currently insured under a COBRA plan from Bates’ previous job, but it expires in 18 months.

Snyderman was clearly agitated that the Bates family has to go through worry and uncertainty over insuring Aislin, and said her prognosticating skills have unfortunately been proven accurate.

“Last week we talked about how crazy it was that there was a chubby baby being denied, and I said next thing you know, we’ll hear about the skinny kid. So here’s the skinny kid,” she said, pointing to Aislin.

“I think what we’re really seeing is the cherry-picking of health care plans across the country,” Snyderman said, adding, “If anyone doubted the significance of health care reform in this country, this is why things have to change.

“This is egregious.”


Sources: MSNBC