What's your vision for Ohio? The unhealthiest state?

Unfortunately, recent amendments to the proposed budget will do the following:

• Pre-empt/eliminate communities from utilizing many of the proven strategies to address obesity, such as policies that address trans fat and menu labeling at the local level. (pages 2265-2267 of the proposed budget)
• Eliminate provisions of the Healthy Choices for Healthy Children Act that would reduce calorie intake and have yet to go into effect. (pages 1790-1791 of the proposed budget)
• While still not providing for proven statewide solutions - funding for tobacco prevention and cessation as well as implementation for Smoke Free Ohio.

More information on each of these issues:

School Beverage Vending Standards
While just passed last year, the restriction to placing low-fat milks in schools won't even go into effect until 2014. Milk is a healthy option, but can also be a high calorie one. Following an agreement with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, the American Dairy Association agreed to healthy standards, but Ohio is set to roll these back.
Resources:

• AHA School Nutrition Policy Recommendations

Restricting local efforts
As a home-rule state, local communities should have the ability, if they choose, to encourage healthy behaviors through environmental change. Eliminating local control to address such policies as trans fat, menu labeling and food deserts seems un-Ohioan.
Resources:

• Trans Fat Fact Sheet
• AHA Position Statement on Menu Labeling
• Policy Position Statement on Food Advertising and Marketing Practices to Children

Tobacco Prevention Funding and Smoke Free Ohio
While the budget now seeks to pre-empt local communities from addressing obesity and other health issues, it also fails to address proven state policies. Ohio needs a comprehensive tobacco prevention and cessation program and funding to implement Smoke Free Ohio. Polling consistently shows Ohioans support both solutions.

Ohio is poised to make a mark nationally. Will we be known as the state that values our citizens and promotes good health? Or will we be known as the unhealthiest state in the nation?

The budget will be passed in a few days. Let your legislators know which vision you support!

A university nutritionist says 40 percent of Kentuckians' food budget is spent in restaurants, and adds that when it comes to the dietary costs of eating out, most are way off-track in dodging quick-serve menu items that pack on the pounds.

Janet Mullins, associate professor of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Kentucky, tested Kentuckians' calorie-counting skills at popular fast-food eateries in a recent study. She found that at least half made the wrong choices.

"Even people with training - such as myself as a registered dietitian - I cannot accurately, consistently all the time pick the lower-calorie option, because it's not apparent; it's counter-intuitive."

As an example, Mullins says two jelly-filled doughnuts at Dunkin' Donuts have thirty fewer calories than a sesame bagel with cream cheese.

The new federal health care reform law requires chain restaurants with 20 or more locations to include calorie counts on their menus and menu boards. Mullins says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to issue menu-labeling guidelines by year's end.

Read the entire article from Public News Service here.

The Menu Education And Labeling (MEAL) Act, federal legislation sponsored by Senator Harkin (D-IA) and Congresswoman Delauro (D-CT) that requires restaurants to provide nutritional information, was recently passed and signed into law by President Barack Obama as part of health reform. While a provision in the health reform bill that has received little media attention, AHA has long advocated for passage of this bill, and the new law represents a victory for the Association.
The law will require restaurants or similar food establishments that are part of a chain (with 20 or more locations with the same name) to make caloric information visible before the purchase decision is made. Specifically, calories must be posted both in menus or menu boards, as appropriate, and other nutritional information must be available upon request. Restaurants are further required to include a “succinct statement” concerning suggested daily caloric intake as specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Lastly, the law also covers vending machines, requiring operators owning 20 or more machines to post calorie information.
Menu labeling is an important step in the fight against the obesity epidemic. By including caloric information at the point-of purchase, we are able to educate and influence customers as they make their food choices. Evidence shows that consumers, armed with the right nutrition information, will make healthier choices when they are eating out.

AHA has also worked for many years to pass strong menu labeling legislation in states and communities across the country as well. Indeed, the passage of the MEAL Act would likely not have happened without the momentum created by state staff working on advocacy campaigns around the country, and its passage is in large part a culmination of their efforts.

Delaware’s calorie labeling bill, SB 81 w/SA 5, has been assigned to the House Economic Development, Banking, and Insurance Committee after passing the Senate before the budget break. The AHA, our coalition partners and our fantastic You're the Cure advocates have been actively communicating with committee members and chairman our strong desire to see this bill heard expeditiously following the full Assembly’s return following the break. If YOU haven't sent your message yet, there's still time!

In addition, the American Heart Association and our coalition partners have responded publicly to the state’s major newspaper’s reporting on the issue on the front page of their Saturday, January 30th issue. Responses can be found at: http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010100205050 and http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010100202053.
With persistence and hard work from American Heart Association supporters across Delaware, we're confident we'll see SB 81 w/SA 5 passed by the House and signed by our Governor before the end of May.  Thanks for all you do to help make calorie labeling a reality in Delaware!

Do you know which has more calories, a grilled chicken sandwich or a quarter pound hamburger? The answer may surprise you!

Too often, we underestimate the calories we're consuming, particularly when dining out. Even experienced dieticians have difficulty correctly guessing the caloric content of restaurant foods.

Studies have shown that customers tend to order up to 100 fewer calories per meal when calories are posted in restaurants. Kentucky's House Bill 246 is common-sense legislation that would give consumers the calorie information they need at the point of purchase to make healthier choices when dining out.

Although representatives from the American Heart Association testified on behalf of the bill just last week, legislators report that they’re hearing more from people who oppose the bill than those who are in favor. This is why Kentucky’s legislators need to hear from you!

With Americans now spending nearly half of their food budget dining out, HB 246 would give consumers the calorie information they need to make informed choices. Please send your message of support for HB 246 today!

The Delaware Senate passed SB 81 with SA 5 on Thursday by a 15-5-1 vote. The bill will require chain and fast-food restaurants to post calorie counts on menus, menu boards and drive-thrus. Senator Dave Sokola (D) Newark sponsored the legislation because of his feelings about consumers’ right-to-know among many other reasons. On the floor of the Senate during debate Senator Patricia Blevins, Minority Whip, urged her colleagues to support the measure saying, “Who knows that a small milkshake from McDonald’s that you buy your child has more calories than the Big Mac! People should be able to understand the choices they make for their families better.” A coalition jointly led by the American Heart Association and the Delaware Center for Health Promotion hosted a lunch in Legislative Hall to educate lawmakers and the press about why calorie labeling was important by displaying a variety of restaurant fare with surprising calorie counts. View the photos from this event by clicking here.

The bill now goes to the Delaware House of Representatives where it will continue to face stiff opposition from restaurant industry representatives and lobbyists. The Delaware Restaurant Association vehemently opposes the measure instead supporting federal legislation in Congress - legislation which was added to the healthcare reform bills and now appears to be in jeopardy.

The Delaware State Senate is voting on Calorie Labeling today...it's a perfect day to call your Senator's office and tell them to support passage of SB 81!


Find your Senator at the Delaware State Senator Lookup page.
 
Most of us know that a double hot fudge brownie sundae contains a lot of calories. But who would guess that many salads and chicken sandwiches do too? Menu labeling would take the guesswork out of eating healthy!
 
To send your message to legislators about the importance of menu labeling click here!
 
We hosted a legislative luncheon last week to educate legislators on the important of menu labeling - to view the pictures from that event click here

Most of us know that a double fudge hot brownie sundae contains a lot of calories. But who would guess that many salads and chicken sandwiches do too?

The American Heart Association joined Senator Denise Harper Angel and Representative Kelly Flood at a press conference recently to announce the filing of bills in the House and the Senate that would require posting of calorie information in Kentucky. The legislation, called C-MEAL (Consumer Menu Education and Labeling), would require chain restaurants with at least 20 locations nationwide to provide calorie information on menus and menu boards for standard menu items, enabling consumers to have a better idea of the number of calories they're eating.
Menu labeling just makes sense. Too often, we underestimate the calories we're consuming, particularly when we think we're eating healthy. And with Kentuckians now spending nearly half of their food budget dining out, this important legislation would give consumers the tools they need to make informed choices.
Watch for more information and opportunities to make your voice heard as this legislation moves through the process!

The mission of the American Heart Association is: Building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.
The American Heart Association / American Stroke Association supports and advocates for public policies that will help reduce coronary heart disease, stroke and risk by 25 percent by 2010. The following are the public policy priorities for Pennsylvania in 2009-2010.

♥ Heart Disease and Stroke Funding
While Pennsylvania does have a Heart Disease and Stroke Program through the PA Department of Health, the federal funding that solely supports its operations is not guaranteed each year. There is no state funding to support efforts to address the #1 and #3 leading causes of death. House Bill 816 would expand current functions of the Department of Health that promote best practices in the prevention and treatment of heart disease and stroke. We will work to pass House Bill 816 first to establish a strong statewide policy to address heart disease and stroke. We will then work to secure state funding to support implementation of House Bill 816.

♥ Quality of Care
Pennsylvania hospitals do not have a consistent set of measures or benchmarks to ensure quality care for stroke patients. We will work to ensure that all Pennsylvania hospitals are equipped with Get With the Guidelines as the state stroke registry data platform by passing House Bill 816, which would establish a framework for reaching this measure.

♥ Obesity Prevention
Pennsylvania, along with the rest of the nation, is in the grips of an obesity epidemic. Too many people are taking in too many calories and are not getting enough physical activity and this is especially true for our children.

• School Nutrition
  Schools are an especially effective and efficient environment for modeling healthy food choices and helping to instill in children lifelong behaviors of health and physical activity. Science tells us that eating and drinking a diet full of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat and non-dairy products, coupled with foods low in saturated and trans fats, cholesterol and added sugar and salt can significantly reduce one’s risk for becoming overweight or obese. But, yet so many of our schools have beverage, snack and a la carte items that have little nutritional value and are high in fats, sugars and sodium. We will work to ensure that more fruits, vegetables and other nutritious foods and beverages are substituted and offered all throughout the school day.
  
• Physical Education
  Schools should promote a learning environment that integrates physical activity and education. Pennsylvania does not require PE as a condition for graduation, nor does it establish minute requirements for PE. We will work to promote quality PE by establishing mandatory minute standards, requiring physical education as a condition for graduation, and promoting physical activity and healthy food choices in our schools and throughout the community.
  
• Menu Labeling
  The AHA believes that educated consumers, armed with the right nutrition information, can make healthier choices when they eat out. We will work to strongly advocate for calorie labeling on all menus and menu boards at the point-of-purchase in restaurants with standardized menus and recipes.

♥ Chain of Survival
Pennsylvania’s Good Samaritan law provides civil immunity for lay rescuers, but the law is currently written in a way that provides program facilitators with civil immunity only if the AED program requirements are met. There is also currently no requirement that all schools implement an AED program. We will identify a legislative champion to support expanding Good Samaritan civil immunity to include program facilitators regardless of if the AED program requirements are met. We will also work to ensure all school buildings are equipped with an AED, in addition to implementation of Medical Emergency Response Plans that follow AHA guidelines.

♥ Tobacco Control
Pennsylvania passed a smoke-free law for public workplaces, but it provides for several exemptions to public places where people will be allowed to smoke. While Pennsylvania remains above the national average in its cigarette excise tax, the national average is quickly catching up to Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania also remains the only state in the nation that does not tax other tobacco products (OTP). We will work to: Strengthen and protect smoke-free workplace laws and remove Pennsylvania’s preemption provision; support significant increases in tobacco excise taxes at all levels of government; and support tobacco control Prevention and treatment programs.

♥ Quality and Availability of Care
Our nation is in the midst of a health care crisis and state and federal governments are grappling over how to best reform our health care delivery system. We will continue to monitor legislative proposals that promote access to health care, expanded coverage for pre-existing conditions, scientifically-based pay-for performance and health information technology.


This is the beginning of a new series on our legislative work. First, we will share the legislative agendas of each state. In a few months, we will share a legislative update to inform advocates of where we stand on our set agenda. Finally, we will have a wrap-up post at the end of legislative session to share our final results.

The mission of the American Heart Association is: Building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.

The American Heart Association / American Stroke Association supports and advocates for public policies that will help reduce coronary heart disease, stroke and risk by 25 percent by 2010. The following are the public policy priorities for Delaware in 2009-2010.

♥ Chain and Fast-Food Restaurant Menu Labeling (Calories)
We, in collaboration with numerous health interests and other stakeholders, will work for passage of SB 81 (with further friendly amendments – requiring calories only on menus and menu boards alongside items offered for sale) during the upcoming legislative session. This legislation is aimed at curbing obesity in the community and was developed by the AHA and the Delaware Center for Health Promotion.

♥ Funding for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention
Create and adequately fund a state-level Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program in the Division of Public Health (as proposed in SB 66 145th Del. GA). Ensure that this program is aligned with the CDC’s Heart and Stroke Prevention Program and is optimally positioned to leverage both state and federal resources to reduce morbidity and mortality from heart disease and stroke.

♥ Establish STEMI Systems of Care
In Delaware, we have convened a statewide Mission: Lifeline stakeholder working group comprised of all the state’s hospitals, the American College of Cardiology, the American College of Emergency Physicians, state and county EMS, and the state hospital association (Delaware Healthcare Association). The M:L working group will be utilized to advance the penetration of Action Registry-Get with the Guidelines and eventually advocate for use of this data tool for a statewide data registry focused on achieving continuous quality improvement (CQI) in the quality of care and outcomes for STEMI patients.


♥ Promote Quality Improvement Initiatives, Coordinated Stroke Systems of Care, and Support Strong EMS Systems and EMS Triage and Transport Protocols
We will advocate for the establishment of a stroke registry; funding for promotional, informational, and educational campaign(s) on stroke aimed at the general public and medical professionals; and treatment, triage, and transfer protocols utilizing an integrated map of Delaware area hospitals and their capabilities. As hospitals in Delaware attain Primary Stroke Center designation AHA/ASA will explore options for bypass protocols, regulations, and/or law to ensure patients are delivered to the hospitals best able to treat them with the most up-to-date and promising treatment protocols and procedures.

♥ Support Physical Activity and Healthy Eating in the School Environment, and Support Physical Activity and Healthy Eating in the Community Environment
We will continue to collaborate with Nemours Health and Prevention Services and the Department of Education to support physical activity and quality physical education in schools across the states. We will work to align Nemours food and beverage guidance to schools with our own, as well as working to implement those recommendations into statewide uniform school policy. We will also support NHPS activities funded through the US Dept. of Ed. PEP grant award.

♥ Support Tobacco Control, Prevention, & Cessation Programs
Ensure that Delaware continues to fund Tobacco Control, Prevention, & Cessation Programs at levels above CDC minimum recommendations, and seek opportunities to grow funding for media, counseling services, pharmacological services, youth programming, and other tobacco control efforts. Delaware’s Tobacco Control, Prevention, & Cessation Programs have been faced funding cuts equal to cuts in the overall budget in all recent years. CDC estimates that the annual costs to implement all of the recommended program components in Delaware range from $9.3M to $18.7M according to their 2007 Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs.

This is the beginning of a new series on our legislative work. First, we will share the legislative agendas of each state. In a few months, we will share a legislative update to inform advocates of where we stand on our set agenda. Finally, we will have a wrap-up post at the end of legislative session to share our final results.

In a recent statement, CEO Nancy Brown applauded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its announcement that it will move toward tougher regulatory action to make sure point-of-purchase labels on food packages are not false or misleading.

“For the past two years, the American Heart Association has been advocating strongly for the establishment of a directed, standardized, comprehensive front-of-package food labeling program and icon system by the FDA,” said Brown.


See full statement.

See AHA Policy Position Statement on Food Package and Retail Shelf Icon System.

Restaurant menu labeling is an important public health measure that, if done correctly, can help to curb one of the biggest risk factors for heart disease and stroke – obesity. On the heels of Philadelphia’s strong menu labeling ordinance, which takes effect January 2010, the PA House Commerce Committee recently began looking at a statewide menu labeling bill, House Bill 1608. Unfortunately, the provisions in this bill would preempt the Philadelphia ordinance – one of the strongest in the nation.

While HB 1608 is not in the best interest of the public health, the American Heart Association will continue to work to ensure that an effective statewide menu labeling bill is passed in Pennsylvania.