Food Marketing and Social Media: Yoda’s wisdom in the land of Facebook

“When you look at the dark side, careful you must be...for the dark side looks back.” -Yoda

It always happens: the moment you decide to start being a healthier version of yourself, a mouth-watering ad for junk food pops up on your TV, and it’s downhill from there. We hear all of this talk about simply removing the temptation, but how feasible is it to go without TV or the Internet in order to escape the ads? Though we know we are being targeted, we hope for the best anyway. New research demonstrates that we might not be as immune as we think. The more that adults are exposed to junk food ads, the greater the chance of coming to view the consumption of these foods as normal. When it comes to social media though, listen to Yoda and stop looking at the dark side!

Wellness Team Summit 2013

The Michael & Susan Dell Community Collaborative for Child Health Wellness Team Summit held on May 2, 2013 in Austin, Texas. This summit was about both recognizing and learning from exceptional elementary and middle school wellness teams in Central Texas. We spotlighted the successes of these wellness teams and provided them an opportunity to share their best practices with each other and the community at large. The summit included group discussions among these wellness teams as well as a brief award ceremony to celebrate their accomplishments.

Click here to learn more about the MSD Community Collaborative.

“Texas Supports Healthy Schools” with Jared Fogle

SUBWAY® spokesperson and philanthropist, Jared Fogle, teamed up with the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living and The University of Texas School of Public Health (UTSPH) for “Texas Supports Healthy Schools” at the state capitol in Austin on April 10th. The event sought to bring awareness to school policies and programs that promote student fitness and healthy eating. One such program is CATCH®, a school-based physical activity and nutrition program, which researchers at UTSPH helped create. The team visited the offices of several legislators, met with the Texas Commissioner of Education Michael Williams, and Jared was recognized with proclamations in both the House and Senate.