[…] They’ve banned sodas, restricted sales of sweetened sports drinks and limited the amount of sugar and saturated fat in school snacks. Some states have set nutritional standards for food sold on campuses — in school stores, in cafeterias and even in vending machines.”

The LA Times also tells the other side of the story-the debate that snacks are still snacks. This is true, processed food is still processed food. Some nutritionists believe that there shouldn’t even be vending machines in schools.

Of course, if every child knew how to eat right, this would be utopia. But, America is a snacking society, and little changes at the beginning are meant to trigger big chances in the future. If kids are going to snack, they may as well snack right.

The mention is the LA Times isn’t even the only press we got last week…we were also featured in ABC News. The article, titled “Vending Machines Get a Makeover,” discusses the obesity epidemic and how HUMAN machines are facilitating easy access to healthful foods.

“There’s no way we’re going to snap fingers and tell an entire country to stop snacking,” said Sean Kelly, CEO of HUMAN. “That might work for six months, but it’s not sustainable. Rather than creating no benefits, we’re going to create some benefits and help people get healthier and healthier.”

Needless to say, we’re stoked for being featured in two great media sources.

Check out this behind the scenes look at the LA Times photo shoot:

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Fostering Innovation the Right Way

Docstoc’s Jason Nazar Shares His Secret

A successful Internet entrepreneur, Jason Nazar, talks about the virtues of failing fast when creating a new product or trying to do something new. Once you learn a lesson, incorporate it in your routines. ‘Don’t fail at the same thing more than once,’ he says.

Check it out:

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Walk-to-School Programs Gaining Momentum

How Saying No to the School Bus Might Be a “Step” in the Right Direction

We’ve all heard our grandparents’ stories of when they were school children.

“I had to walk a mile uphill, both ways to get to school!”

And of course, we rolled our eyes, and didn’t even think twice about the convenience of riding in a school bus to and from school. Most kids are bussed to school–with only those living very close to the school having to actually walk. Most people don’t think twice about the effect busing plays on students’ physical fitness–or lack thereof.

“Because of a ‘car-centric’ society that favors wider roads and fewer sidewalks — as well as a heightened fear of abductions by strangers — far fewer kids walk to school than was the case four decades ago. According to study authors, 42 percent of children actively commuted (walked or biked) to school in 1969-70, compared to only 13 percent in 2009” reports Health.com.

To determine if walking to school actually promotes healthier, active lifestyles in kids who walk to school versus those who don’t, Dr. Jason Mendoza and his research team conducted a study.

The researchers split a group of 149 fourth-graders from eight schools in Houston into active commuters — those who walked to and from school up to five days a week — and a control group who were driven by bus or car. At the beginning of the study, both groups had logged similar amounts of moderate to vigorous activity, about 46 to 49 minutes per day.

But over the next five weeks, the kids who walked to school upped their activity slightly — an average of 7 extra minutes per day of moderate to vigorous exercise. In contrast, those who got driven to school actually lowered their daily activity over the study period, to an average of 41 minutes daily.

While the activity increase for walkers may seem modest, Dr. Jason Mendoza said that even small amounts of exercise are meaningful in a country with a 17 percent obesity rate for kids under age 19. About a third of adult Americans are obese, and another third are classified as overweight.

Although walk-to-school programs are uncommon, they may serve as a way to increase physical activity in children. Although walking takes more time than getting a ride on a bus or car, it may be a step in the right direction to reverse the effects of childhood obesity.

What do you think? Are walk-to-school programs a good idea?