“Check It Out! I Got A Sponsor For My Race!” A Wellness Media Mashup

Belated congratulations to our own Shaping Youth Nutrition MA, RD, and ACSM Certified Health Fitness Correspondent Rebecca Scritchfield, (yes, those letters ALL matter, as she’s worked her tail off for ‘em!) for she just ran a very personal, very applaudable self-challenge on behalf of Diabetes Research and Education. She’s inspired so many of us who have … [Read more...]

Kidney Stones In Kindergarten? Put Down the Sports Drink, Kiddo!

Today’s New York Times reports "A Rise in Kidney Stones Seen in U.S. Children," naming high sodium intake of processed foods as one of the culprits, sending wee ones into urology clinics (no pun intended). Ever since the multimillion dollar marketing blitz sanctifying sports drinks as a 'better for you' beverage I've watched kids chug down those colossal sized jugs of neon … [Read more...]

Parents for Ethical Marketing: The Role In Shaping Youth

The name alone is a winner. “Parents For Ethical Marketing.” It’s universal, inclusive, and makes my name generation synapses smile (metaphorically, grammarians; hold the e-mails). When PEM founder Lisa Ray (formerly of the incisive, razor-sharp blog, Two Knives) approached me about her desire to start an organization to encourage corporate ethics in … [Read more...]

FCC: Kids Programming Is Laden With Product Placement

That’s my official FCC filing at left, (squeaked in under the deadline today, explained why later) which emphatically states kids should be OFF LIMITS to embedded ads designed to bypass the Tivo tactics of wise wee ones who blip through traditional commercials to get back to their favorite show unscathed. I've written about this a lot before, vetting thoughts about … [Read more...]

Farmers Markets Go Digital: Find Healthy Food Near YOU!

Tonight Shaping Youth proudly hosts filmmaker Amy Kalafa of Two Angry Moms at Parents Place joining Farmers Market pals like Sarah Nelson of Fresh Approach who is stellar at getting the word out regionally to all the farmer's market folks who in turn inform us "what's in season" with handy charts like this one...But we also wanted to provide a searchable database for our … [Read more...]