As if NJ didn’t have enough bureaucrats:
Welcome to the Office of Nutrition and Fitness:
The new office will coordinate the department’s existing obesity prevention programs. There are programs to promote breastfeeding, promote sports and physical activity at all ages, encourage fruit and vegetable consumption, and provide fresh fruits and vegetables to eligible women, children and seniors. The new Office of Nutrition and Fitness is expected to open this summer.
Of course the state’s spending your money faster than you can burn calories:
The $15 million Safe Routes to School program helps communities create safer walkways, bikeways and street crossings near schools. It is part of Governor Jon Corzine’s $74 million initiative to improve pedestrian safety statewide.
but there’s still plenty of opportunity to make a buck or two:
The Academy encourages healthy changes at the community level by training participants and offering mini-grants of up to $10,000 that can be used for such projects as starting walking clubs, creating walking maps, offering swimming lessons or water aerobics, or even starting a community or school garden, for example. So far, 20 communities have received mini-grants.
Garden (Salad) State Launches $2 Million Futile Fat Fight. That’s $2 million just on the ads. Then there’s the bureaucracy. And yes, it’ll cost plenty.
But back to those mini-grants. I’m willing to apply for one and start The Principality Blogger’s Walking, Mapping, Swimming and Gardening Club. I’ll contact the other blogger in the township and see if he’s willing to do the paperwork.
After all, all that walking, mapping, swimming and gardening will be taking up all my time.
Update: NJ resident and dear friend Maria sent me this, asking, “The fittest senior citizens of the world?”
Let’s hope the Office of Nutrition and Fitness doesn’t get any ideas and start promoting ice skaing.
Fausta, great post, I’m not sure how long it will be till the food police arrest this overweight 60 year old, but I LOOOOVVVVVEEEE ice cream.
My wife is a clinical dietitian and she says the controversy regarding transfats is really stupid as what they will be replaced with are just as bad, if not worse. The secret is holding down all fats in your diet and eat a balanced meal with sufficient calories for the amount that you burn. For every 3000 calories you eat that you don’t burn, you will gain one pound. For every 3000 calories that you burn but don’t eat, you will lose one pound. That is so simple, I wonder why the fat police haven’t figured it out. By taking away children’s games such as tag, four square, dodgeball because someone my twist an ankle, or the slowest kid always gets to be “it” because they can’t catch anyone or to protect someone’s self esteem because they might get picked last… we have reaped that which we have sown.
GM,
I agree with you entirely. I have blood sugar problems and can not take a lot of carbs (but I do love Thomas Sweet’s sugar-free chocolate ice cream with salted pecans on top), and the way to lose weight is not to ban this food or that, but to
1. cut down on calories
2. burn more calories than you consume.
While the schools are revising their menus, I wonder if they have anyone looking at how active the kids are.
Very useful, excellent information..
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