Somerville, Massachusetts went on a diet. Yup, the city. In an effort to curb childhood obesity schools cooked with fresh foods, offered fruits and vegetables, and adopted a new health curriculum. Restaurants in the town changed their portion sizes and switched to low-fat dairy products and offered fruit and veggies as side dishes.
The study was funded with a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Guess what researchers said? It worked. Shocking, I know. The full article can be found here. The abstract of the results posted in Obesity Journal can be read here.
How are your kid’s school lunches?
[tags]childhood obesity, somerville massachusetts diet, improving school lunches, parenting, education[/tags]
3 responses so far ↓
Stu Mark // May 25, 2007 at 6:13 am
I *love* this story and plan on sending the article to our town’s mayor.
Mr. Fabulous // May 26, 2007 at 6:38 pm
When I first went to work for the bloodbank, I had occasion to go into high schools for the first time in 20 years.
I was astounded at the soda and snack machines all over the place, and what passed for lunch.
I don’t think I ever even SAW a can of soda during lunch when I was in high school
Dawn // May 26, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Oh Somerville, my hometown. Such a smart, progressive place
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