New research published in the recent issue of the journal Food Chemistry suggests that the leading commercial brands of baby food may be seriously lacking in nutritional benefits, providing infants 20 percent or fewer of the total recommended daily intake of minerals and micronutrients.

Jamba Juice has partnered with the National Gardening Association (NGA) to provide grants to local schools so students can plant fruit trees that help promote nutrition education.

Schools can submit applications for one of 20 It’s All About the Fruit grants of $500. The application deadline is Nov. 29. Winners will be announced in January.

Recipients will be selected based on plans to promote nutrition education, ideas for incorporating fruit-tree activities in curricula and the ability to sustain the program over multiple years.

High-calorie beverages that have been disallowed by federal guidelines are still available in most U.S. elementary schools, according to a study that will appear in an upcoming issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago conducted a nationally representative survey to examine the availability of high-calorie and sugar-sweetened beverages for sale in elementary schools during lunchtime, in vending machines and snack bars, and in school stores. They also examined the types of milk available in school cafeterias: low-fat, whole-fat and flavored milks (right).

While 16.1% of students could purchase only those beverages recommended by Institute of Medicine guidelines during the 2008–2009 school year, 44.7% could purchase beverages that the guidelines frown upon. This pattern applied to both public and private school.

In August, I told you about the Salad Bar Project—a program that allows Whole Foods Market customers to donate money for school salad bars.

I’m happy to report that 7 weeks of fundraising have brought in $1.4 million, which will fund 570 salad bars in U.S. schools.

“The overwhelming support our shoppers have shown for the Salad Bar Project is heartwarming—just plain amazing,” says Whole Foods co-CEO Walter Robb. “We nearly doubled the original fundraising goal, so it’s clear our customers share our passion for supporting more nutritious offerings in school lunchrooms across the country.”

The average American will spend $66.28 on Halloween this year, $20.29 of which will go toward candy purchases, according to the National Retail Federation. (Costumes are the No. 1 expense.)

But when trick-or-treating first became popular in the 1920s, children received whatever neighbors had on hand: apples, pastries, breads and even money. Flash-forward to the 21st century: We now spend $1.8 billion on Halloween candy each year—so, what has changed?

Anyone wondering why more than 23 million U.S. children and adolescents are overweight or obese can find the answer in a study published this month in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Researchers from the National Cancer Institute can sum it up in two words: empty calories.

Here are the basic findings:

Katherine Schwarzenegger felt something was terribly wrong last summer, when she overheard her young cousins chatting about their bodies.

“They’re 8 years old and were talking about how they don’t want to be fat and how they want to be ‘sexy,’” says the 20-year-old daughter of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and journalist Maria Shriver.

It wasn’t the first time Katherine had heard the girls and other young friends discuss body-image issues. She, herself, had struggled to maintain her self-esteem under media and public scrutiny.

Now a junior at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, Katherine eventually tackled her body-image issues and developed self-confidence—and she shares her hard-earned wisdom in a new book, Rock What You’ve Got: Secrets to Loving Your Inner and Outer Beauty from Someone Who’s Been There and Back.

School days usher in that familiar school daze.

Reduce anxiety and improve performance with a quality breakfast that includes protein and whole-grain carbohydrates, advises registered dietitian Connie Diekman, director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis.

A bowl of oatmeal with milk “can give you some energy to the brain,” she says. “That milk begins to work on brain chemicals.”

School is almost in session, so it’s time to “think outside the loaf,” according to registered dietitian Elizabeth Somer.

“Kids do get tired of the same old sandwiches,” says the visiting professor of exercise science at Willamette University in Salem, OR. She’s also the author of numerous books, including Age-Proof Your Body: Your Complete Guide to Looking and Feeling Younger.

A tortilla wrap is a great way to experiment with a variety of healthy ingredients, Somer says, and tortillas are a good choice for budget-conscious families.

Whole Foods Market has teamed with “Renegade Lunch Lady” Chef Ann Cooper for the Salad Bar Project, designed to bring fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and healthy proteins to school cafeterias.

“We see partnering with our shoppers to raise funds for salad bars in local schools as an immediate way for us to come together and make an impact on our children’s health in the communities we serve,” says Whole Foods Co-CEO Walter Robb. “Our goal is to provide a salad bar in a local school in each of the communities we serve with our 300 stores.”

Now through Sept. 29, you can donate to the project at a Whole Foods checkout line or make an online donation. Each salad bar will cost approximately $2,500.

Any public elementary, middle or high school within 50 miles of a Whole Foods Market is eligible to apply through a grant process, which will be administered by Chef Cooper’s Food, Family, Farming Foundation. Grant applications will be accepted between Sept. 1 and Nov. 1.

“I know we can make thousands of salad bars a reality for schools everywhere,” Cooper says. “Since adding a healthy salad bar to school lunch options is the No. 1 thing parents and advocates can do to help improve school food, this is a win-win for schools and their students.”

“Making small changes—like replacing French fries with fresh fruits, steamed or raw vegetables and whole grains—can make a big difference,” Robb adds. “A fresh, healthy salad bar with an array of colorful choices empowers children to make smart food choices.”

More than 31 million children eat a federally funded school lunch each day through the National School Lunch Program. On average, each lunch is budgeted at 90 cents, which means schools rely on mostly frozen, highly processed, packaged foods.

And with no national standardized limits on sugar, artificial colors, flavors or preservatives, it’s common to find hamburgers, chicken nuggets, French fries, chocolate milk and corn dogs on typical school lunch menus. And we wonder why America’s kids are struggling with their weight...

Photo: Ted Major