The 2013 edition of New Nutrition Business’s trend-spotting report, 10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition & Health, indicates natural foods and ingredients will continue to see an upward trend in product development.
The report, conducted by German-based Kampffmeyer Food Innovation, highlights consumer research that shows 74% of people surveyed thought that ‘natural’ meant ‘healthier.’
Several product categories appear to be building on the strength of the natural trend including.

• Coconut water –In the US sales of coconut water jumped by more than 100% to at least $200 million in the year to September 2012.
• Snacking nuts –Retail sales grew from zero to more than $400 million from 2008 to 2012.
• Greek yogurt – Explosive growth of Greek yogurt in the US has been powered by the Chobani brand, with annual sales of over $1 billion four years after launch.

The 10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition & Health 2013 report identifies and analyses the 10 major forces that will define the food and beverage industry in the coming year.
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Poor urban neighborhoods are often food deserts, bereft of fresh fruits and vegetables. According to a report by the Bloomberg School of Public Health, nearly one in four school-aged children in Baltimore live in a food desert — an area where nutritious food choices are limited, and almost one-third of city households lacked access to enough nutritious food to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

There is a 20-year difference in life expectancy between some neighborhoods in the city, and unhealthy diet contributes to many of the top causes of death and disease in this city like cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. That’s according to Dr. Kimberly Gudzone, an assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who directed a recent pilot program for the Healthy Stores project.
The Healthy Stores projects realistically address the complexities faced by store owners with respect to maintaining an inventory of fresh produce. Teams aim to improve health and prevent obesity and disease in low-income communities. The Johns Hopkins initiative operates through the Center for Human Nutrition and engages in culturally appropriate store-based interventions that increase the supply of healthy foods while also promoting their purchase.
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Beth Wallace, a registered dietitian at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, asked twenty well-respected, experienced, pediatric nutrition experts what foods they refuse to provide to their own children. The children range from 18 months to 20 years old. The results are in.
The top 10 foods experts won’t bring into their home:

1. Sugar sweetened beverages- This was the overwhelming #1 item on everyone’s list and it includes soda, juice drinks, iced tea, lemonade, and powdered drink mixes. These beverages provide no nutrition benefit and are the #1 source of excess calories in adolescent diets. Drinks that were allowed: water (tap for filtered), flavored milk, seltzers, and 100% fruit juice.
2. TV dinners and prepackaged lunches- Another selection on almost every list, these items were banned due to high sodium contents, high fat, and minimal nutrition value (vitamins, minerals, and whole grains).
3. Packaged breakfast pastries- Whether you toasted them or ate them from the wrapper, these items ranked high due to large amounts of sugar and minimal fiber. Though it’s better than nothing in the morning, the experts preferred alternate convenience items like granola bars made with whole grain oats, fruits, and nuts.
4. Sweetened and artificially colored cereals- One dietitian who wrote this on her list said, “if I gave my kids the options of rainbow colored cereals with marshmallows and sprinkles, or a brown whole-grain cereal, guess which one they’d pick every time? That’s why they don’t get the choice.” I couldn’t agree more. Another option: Make sugary cereals a dessert option only, and make sure it’s served in a small bowl.
5. Canned pasta meals- Refined white flour pasta mixed with tomatoes, preservatives and canned meats? There’s not much good I can say about this. Consider making some extra servings of your own spaghetti and meatballs, mix in some vegetables, and freeze in single serving containers for easy reheating.
6. Fruit cups in syrup- Fruit packed in syrup was an absolute no for the experts. These items were considered more acceptable as long as they were packaged in water or juice.
7. Canned meats- These highly processed items were typically too high in fat and sodium for anyone to serve in their own home. An alternative deemed acceptable was canned fish packed in water.
8. Chips (of all varieties)- Puffed, fried, or kettle cooked, these items all made the unacceptable list due to the empty calories and ease of overeating. I will admit that the group was realistic about the fact that this was an inevitable item to avoid at many parties.
9. Hot dogs- The parents of younger kids were concerned with this item being a big-time choking hazard. Parents of older children had it on their list due to high fat and sodium contents. For both reasons combined, it stayed out of most homes.
10. Packaged desserts- Store bought cookies, cupcakes, and other baked goods because they generally contained trans-fats and were loaded with sugar. The other option? Baking treats with your kids so that you know what ingredients are in the product, and to teach them some classic family recipes.

This was certainly not the complete list, but a great place to start.
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Obesity rates for kids have become a hot button educational issue in the USA, with childhood obesity tripling in the last three decades. The State of Georgia is among the worst in the nation with more than 37 percent of students overweight or obese. These children will likely grow up to become obese adults and while suffering from ailments including auto-immune disorders, diabetes, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, lost productivity and disability. And, as if the human tragedy wasn’t enough, such conditions also strain the state’s healthcare costs.
Almost 75 percent of all children who attend public schools in Georgia participate in the School Nutrition Program. What better way to combat childhood obesity, than to revolutionize the school lunch menu to make a difference where it counts the most.
The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) is addressing the challenges associated with a school district offering healthy options – especially when it comes to providing fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables on cafeteria trays. The phrase “Farm-to-School” is becoming increasingly popular in the U.S. when it comes to thinking about how to offer healthy, fresh produce options to students. Now the state Departments of Education and Agriculture are teaming up in a combined effort to assist each and every school district in facing the challenges associated with implementing a Farm-to-School initiative.
In the 2011-12 school year, a handful of schools across the state will be included in the GDA’s pilot program, “Feed My School for a Week.” Each participating school district will have one elementary school host the event and all school lunches served out of that school’s cafeteria will be composed of 75-100 percent of Georgia Grown food. In return, the participating school must be willing and able to host a fall semester planning meeting, which will be put on by the GDA, as well as a week in the school’s spring semester dedicated to putting on the event.
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Chronic malnutrition, has an irreversible impact on children’s physical and intellectual development if it is not treated in the first two years of life. To prevent stunting and anaemia in mothers and their children, food and nutrition security, water, hygiene and sanitation, and other endemic social and health-related problems need to be addressed together.
Desiree Jongsma, UNICEF’s representative in the Democratic Republic of Korea, described the improvements in childhood nutrition as “Modest but significant.” These findings revealed by data from a new comprehensive national nutrition survey show that stunting has decreased from 32.3 per cent to 27.9 per cent since 2009, while acute malnutrition is down from 5.2 per cent to 4 per cent, and the incidence of underweight children is down from 18.8 per cent to 15.5 per cent.
The 2012 survey looked at the prevalence of acute and chronic malnutrition and anaemia among children less than five years old, documented nutrition-related diseases in these children and provided data on vitamin A supplementation coverage, on breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices. The survey also assessed acute malnutrition, anaemia, micronutrient supplementation coverage, and food diversity in all the mothers of the children surveyed.
The survey found wide variations in stunting between provinces, with approximately 20 per cent of children in Pyongyang being stunted, versus more than 30 per cent of children in the north-eastern provinces.
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A new study suggests that community-based education programs to improve intake of dietary calcium could make a difference in bone health and fracture prevention for the postmenopausal population. In many Asian countries, levels of dietary calcium and vitamin D in the general population have been shown to be below FAO/WHO recommended levels of calcium intake. For pre-menopausal women and men under age 65 the recommended levels are 1000 mg/day and for postmenopausal women and men over age 65 the recommendations are for 1300 mg/day.
Researchers carried out a controlled trial in the Red River Delta in Vietnam involving a total of 140 women. The women, aged 55 years, had been postmenopausal for at least 5 years, and had low dietary calcium intake (less than 400 mg/day). An intervention group was given nutrition education counselling over 18 months to improve calcium intake.
After 18 months, the women in the intervention group had increased their calcium intake significantly. Testing showed that the intervention group’s bone mass had remained stable. In comparison, the bone mass of the control group which had not received nutrition education, had decreased by 0.5 % (p<0.01). The PTH (parathyroid hormone) values in the intervention group decreased by 12 % (p<0.01) whereas in the controls, PTH increased by 32 % (p<0.001). Consider the Source

At Mark Twain Middle School in Los Angeles, a blooming garden serves as a classroom. Students learn math by measuring the growth of wheat, ancient history by building a Mesopotamian-style irrigation system and the science of evaporation, evolution and genetics by watching their garden grow. At lunchtime you will find them snacking on pasta tossed in a sauce featuring just-picked tomatoes and basil.
Healthful eating is linked to academic achievement and some students rely on school meals for most of their daily nutrition. Keonta Johnson, a Mark Twain sixth-grader sitting with three of his friends, said they enjoyed such healthful cafeteria fare as rice and beans, salads and fruits. “We know if we eat too much junk food we’ll get fat and have a greater chance of heart attacks and diabetes.” Edwin Castro, a seventh-grader, said lessons in eating habits, history and other subjects that employed hands-on work out in the school garden have been far more exciting than just reading textbooks.
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“If you can show someone how special they are, that they are wonderfully made, that empowers them with value and it changes their lives.” So says Pam Van Meter, a certified health education specialist who works at the Bethesda Clinic in Tyler Texas.
The clinic provides women with job training and other life skills. The women attend classes twice a week and learn to cook healthy meals from scratch while focusing on the message of the program: cook nutritious meals and limit portion sizes. Here clients learn the basics of good nutrition, which includes using less processed foods and adding more vegetables to the diet.
A focus on nutrition has slowly expanded at the clinic. Health officials say poor nutrition is at the core of the obesity epidemic and chronic illnesses, which costs have overwhelmingly burdened the health care system. The clinic hopes the basics learned in the nutrition classes will resonate with entire families. It’s not enough for one person to create a healthy lifestyle, Bethesda officials say. If the family can enjoy and embrace good nutrition, it could break the cycle of chronic illness in each family.
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Chicago Public School students will be growing much of their own food next year. On Sunday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced a $1 million investment into the school system’s gardening and nutrition programs. The money is left over from the NATO Summit that took place last spring.
About 100 Chicago schools will be getting the new gardens. Within the small number that previously had such programs, sixth graders consumed more than double the fruits and vegetables of the other students. Hands-on experience and easy access to fruits and vegetables is making a difference in these young lives.
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