“They’re focusing better in class” / Mingo County stages breakfast revolution in schools

Mingo County schools have doubled the number of students eating breakfast and lunch. “We’re cooking for a lot more kids this year,” said veteran head cook Lena Lackey. They’re also making food from scratch, five days a week. Yes, she said, it’s more work than heat-and-serve, “but it’s the only solid meals some of our kids get.”

American Diabetes Association is MIA in W.Va.

West Virginia is at the top of the charts when it come to diabetes, yet the American Diabetes Association pulled out of the state in three years. But the group is headed back, they say.

Body, spirit and medical home / ‘Jesus and Cabin Creek Clinic delivered me from food’

People keep asking Freida Smith how she shed so much weight, slipping from size 2X to size 12. She says Jesus and her medical home, Cabin Creek Clinic, did it. Physicians assistant John Rice coordinates her treatment at Cabin Creek.

Mud River women part 3: 1 year, 555 pounds, 555 balloons

Faced with diabetes and heart problems, determined Lincoln countians have walked the back roads together each morning for a year, exercising and dancing in the fire hall in the evenings. They’re celebrating losing a total of 555 pounds.

W.Va. school cooks learn new tricks

As part of an ongoing effort to provide more healthful meals in the state’s schools, 80 cooks from 15 West Virginia counties learn tips and tricks for making meals both healthful and tasty.

Marple urges collaboration on obesity, teen pregnancy and hunger

State School Superintendent Jorea Marple challenged state wellness conference  attendees to find collaborative ways to tackle three heart-wrenching problems she said are “too big for schools to handle alone”: teen pregnancy, obesity and child hunger, which keep many young West Virginians from learning effectively,

Extra fat equals extra problems / What fat can do to your health

The important thing to remember, says  Dr. Sally Swisher, a neurologist and bariatric doctor, is that it’s possible to prevent the dire effects of extra weight with exercise and diet. “It’s within most people’s reach.”

Walmarts and groceries trade junk food for healthier items in healthy checkout lanes

Five Walmart and Foodland stores and several Kroger groceries in Parkersburg, West Virginia have transformed checkout lines into ‘healthy checkout lines,’ replacing candy bars and junkfood with apples, pears, bananas, jump ropes and other items that encourage a healthier diet and active lifestyle.