Dr. David Katz Named One of 25 Most Influential People in Children's Lives!
An article in the October 2009 issue of Children's Health magazine lists the names and contributions of 25 leaders, experts, advocates, and role models considered to be powerful influences on the lives of our children. Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center Director Dr. David Katz was among those honored for their contributions, based on his leadership in creating two elementary school programs (Nutrition Detectives™ and ABC for Fitness™) and in developing the NuVal food rating system which lets shoppers see the nutritional value of food products in the supermarket. Children's Health is a new publication from the editors of Men's Health and Women's Health. This magazine provides health, nutriton and educational guidance for parents, and is available on news stands as of September 2009.
Nutrition Detectives™ and NuVal™ in the Independence School District
The NuVal™ Nutritional Scoring System scores foods on a scale of 1 to 100, based on their overall nutritional quality (the higher the score, the better the quality). Many supermarkets use NuVal™ to help shoppers compare food products for their nutritional value. The Independence School District in Missouri plans to link NuVal™ to the Nutrition Detectives™ program to promote the health of the district's students and their families. To learn more, click here.
Does It Really Cost More Money to Make Better Food Choices?
Some people have the idea that foods that are "good for you" must cost a lot. But is this really the case? When you look at individual foods in the grocery store, some of the items that are good for your health may cost a bit more than the less healthy items. However, as you fill up the cart with groceries, the average cost of a grocery cart of more healthful food products is likely to even out compared to a cart of less healthful food products.
To prove this point, my research team at the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center collaborated with the Independence School District in Missouri in 2008 to look at 131 foods from 6 grocery stores in Independence. We chose samples of breads, cereal bars, cereals, chips, cookies, crackers, juices, and peanut butters that were either CLUED-IN (healthful food choices) or CLUE-LESS (less healthful food choices) based on a set of "5 Clues" taught in my Nutrition Detectives™ program.
When we looked at the breads, cereal bars, crackers, juices, and peanut butters, the average price for the CLUED-IN foods was a bit higher than for the CLUE-LESS foods. But when we looked at the cereals, chips, and cookies, the average price of the CLUED-IN foods was actually a bit less than for the CLUE-LESS foods.
Here's the most important finding: We looked at all the CLUED-IN products together, as if they were in one grocery cart. We compared their average price to another "grocery cart" with CLUE-LESS products. We found no major difference in the overall price! The average price of a CLUED-IN food was $2.89, while the average price of a CLUE-LESS food was $2.85. So you can use the 5 Clues without paying any more! We are currently preparing a manuscript to publish these findings in the scientific literature.
