I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cr- zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The restless food innovation market has introduced a restful new food. It's ice cream with ingredients that help you relax or go beddy bye, including melatonin, rose hip, milk thistle and valerian root.

Isn't this a little duplicative? Doesn't eating a pint of ice cream already induce food coma? Or are you just pumping my twisty cone full of sleeping aides so I can fall asleep mid lick and wake up face down in a slop puddle.... I don't follow the logic of this product development.

Not to mention, people already turn to sweets as an emotional eating crutch, and even go so far as to bemoan their addictive properties. So in response to that ready-made siren call, that needs no help, you'll just, uh, offer help ... and make it more emotionally crippling. Good job, food makers. I can't help but think your efforts would have been better placed solving world hunger. #GoHomeYou'reDrunk #QuitWhileYou'reAhead

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Funny Gym Ecards (Pt 3)

Back by popular demand, another installment of Funny Gym Ecards. To see previous Gym Ecard posts, head over to part 1 and part 2.

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Burger King's health(ier) "SatisFries"

Hear ye, hear ye *ahem*

His Majesty, the (Burger) King, doth hereby proclaim a novel low-fat, lower-calorie french fry, available for nom nom times. Thou shall hear (marketing) tales of these "SatisFries" in the days that cometh. Foremost, Fry-lovers, be ye assured that SatisFries doth retain their fullsome fried nature (none of this baked cop-out route to healthy-ville that chips oft follow). Verily, the trifecta of indulgent ingredients - potatoes, oil, and batter - remains unaltered. Lest ye decry sorcery alone couldst yield uncompromised taste for calories few, be privy to the secret alteration. *Lean in now* The secret lies in re-jiggering the batter recipe, that it may absorb lesser quantities of oil whilst frying. Tarry not, go thither to a Crowned Burger Joint and taste these golden straws this very e'en. Yay, merrily! Huzzah! Cheerio ... Fare thee well for I've run out of Old English words.

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What Public Health Campaigns can glean from Positive Psychology

Traditional psychology studies the broken masses, and for all its efforts, mostly just compiles a compendium of great ways to break people. By contrast, Positive Psychology studies the achievers and gathers success strategies worth emulating. It's a "build what's strong" approach that augments the "fix what's wrong" talk typical of a psychiatrist couch session. The field's rapidly gaining acceptance among academics and general public alike. The research gods smile favorably upon it too. A 2013 review on the effectiveness of P-squared (what I'm calling Positive Psychology) looked at 39 interventions (6,000+ participants) and concluded: yep, it works, participants' well-being improved.

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Poking holes in Obama's PR Play for "National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month"

Obama recently proclaimed September 2013 to be "National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month." This being in light of new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that, in select states, childhood obesity rates are leveling off or even declining.

Call it splitting semantic hairs, but I have a few alternate name suggestions for Obama's month. To paraphrase his proclamation, he says Americans are making progress in the childhood obesity fight, and then lists how his wife's "Let's Move!" campaign is doing its part. This prompts my first alternate name suggestion: "National I'm-a-good-husband-and-praise-my-wife's-work Month. Subtitle, I'm-getting-lucky Month."

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America’s Top Food and Beverage Companies Meet Goal to Cut Calories Market-wide

What are the odds that 16 American Food and Beverage companies[1]can voluntarily slash 1.5 trillion calories from the marketplace within 5 years? Stifle all scoffs (mine included) because apparently, odds are pretty good. In fact, the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF) announced today that these companies accomplished this very goal three years ahead of the 2015 due date.  They pledged their calorie-reduction commitment in 2010 to the First Lady’s Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), a nonpartisan force mobilizing the private sector, foundations and local communities to curb childhood obesity through measurable commitments.

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Partnership for a Healthier America's 2013 Summit encourages making the healthy choice, the easy choice

“They look like a church choir, but they act like an army!”  James Gavin, Board Chair of Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), kicked off the 2013 Building a Healthier Future Summit by saluting fifty representatives of PHA partner commitments. The ensemble lined the stage in Washington, D.C.’s Grand Hyatt Hotel on March 7th, hailing from companies whose health-promoting business practices fight childhood obesity. An expert panel followed where leaders engrained in the grassroots-level childhood obesity work shared lessons learned. A suggested community-rallying strategy was extending personal choice beyond just what goes in our mouths, to include what policies we accept in our neighborhoods. Panelists emphasized engaging cities in a campaign manner to successfully implement public health policies. They called for a “culture of health,” and pointed to increasing participation by mayors and private sector in health issues as momentum gains.  The room twice erupted in applause for what was described as “reigning in the food industry’s excessive promotion of highly concentrated nutrient poor foods.” Thereafter the crowds were off to populate whichever breakout sessions tickled their fancy. The Powell Tate Food team was on site live-tweeting the day’s events and gleaning insights at breakout sessions.

The closing plenary, featuring the First Lady of the United States as keynote speaker, had a jam-packed supporting line-up. George Washington (GW) University President Steven Knapp welcomed everyone to the GW Lisner auditorium. PHA’s President Larry Soler revealed the Mushroom Council and Reebok as the newest partners in the fight against childhood obesity. The Mushroom Council’s Chairwoman, Fletcher Street, announced a $6 million dollar healthy eating marketing campaign to offer solutions for healthy school meals. Meanwhile, Reebok shared their $30 million, three-year commitment aimed at increasing physical activity in kids through their BOKS (Building Our Kids' Success) activity program. BOKS ambassador and two-time Superbowl champ, Eli Manning, attested to knowing first-hand how life-changing an active childhood can be for personal development. Mayor Cory Booker’s enthusiasm was contagious as he presented a $10,000 check to the winner of Sanofi’s Innovation Challenge, Dennis Ai.

Finally, the much-anticipated Michelle Obama took to the stage to sum up the great progress PHA, Let’s Move, and anti-obesity efforts have made to date thanks to broad and inclusive engagement on all our parts. Shout outs went to brands showing that responsible marketing can make healthy foods profitable: Birds Eye’s ICarly partnership saw sales of frozen vegetables jump 37 percent, while Vidalia Onion’s use of Shrek boosted sales by 50 percent. The next key thread in her speech was that nutrition messaging is only as good as its placement and delivery. Reaching consumers at decision points is crucial. If a diner is staring at a menu, let it be like Darden Restaurant menus that highlight healthy offerings. If a mother is standing in front of her fridge, let MyPlate’s Pinterest Recipe Page be a button away with her smartphone. If shoppers are perusing grocery aisles, let Walmart’s Great for You seal guide their purchases. All of these were listed as examples of strategies effectively shaping choices in the information landscape. Lastly, the First Lady reminded the audience that it’s not enough to change children’s habits, we have to be healthy role models in our own lives.

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