Here's one I bet you never expected......Mc Donald’s is looking to reposition Ronald McDonald (yes the clown) as a fitness and health ambassador. A leaner Ronald will encourage McDonald's young consumers to exercise. Ronald, who is known officially within McDonald Corp. as "chief happiness officer," will soon be seen riding a skateboard with a basketball star and kicking a football.

Ronald, the company's newly dubbed "chief happiness officer," has become the company's "ambassador for an active, balanced lifestyle," McDonald's Chief Creative Officer Marlena Peleo-Lazar told a US government panel yesterday. Her announcement came the same week an appeals court reinstated a lawsuit against McDonald's in which two New York teenagers claim they got fat because the company hid the health risks of its food. Other major food companies also are promoting fitness in schools. Last fall, PepsiCo Inc. sent fitness educational materials to elementary schools, reaching 3 million students. In March, the beverage and snack-food company will send another round, this time to all 15,000 middle schools in the country.

These educational programs were discussed at a day-long workshop sponsored by the Institute of Medicine, which Congress directed to study the impact of food marketing on childhood obesity and healthful eating.

The study comes as a growing number of health care professionals and consumer activists are calling for more government oversight of food advertising because the number of obese children has more than doubled in the past 30 years.

Several major food companies are responding to the concerns by reformulating many of their food products and developing or adding new ones to offer more healthful alternatives, such as reduced-sugar cereal. McDonald's, for example, has added milk and apples to its kids' menu. Meanwhile, Kraft announced earlier this month that it will curb advertising of many of its snack foods to children under 12.

The food industry is seeking legislation to block lawsuits, such as the one just reinstated against McDonald's. The Virginia House of Delegates did just that yesterday, strengthening existing law by approving a bill saying state residents can't blame their weight gain on food companies.

In the past, the Ronald McDonald character has visited schools to teach about such issues as bike safety and literacy. Now the clown will be touting physical activity. No burgers or fries will be promoted. "Ronald does not promote food, but fun and activity -- the McDonald's experience," said company spokesman Walt Riker.

The campaign was criticized by Harvard psychologist Susan Linn, author of "Consuming Kids."

"It's just another marketing ploy for McDonald's," she said. "It has no place in the school. The amount of exercise it will take to exercise off everything these kids consume will take all day."

The program has been reviewed and approved by the American Academy of Pediatrics. "We're not endorsing McDonald's or Ronald McDonald, but wanted to make sure the message was safe and appropriate," said Reginald L. Washington, co-chairman of the academy's task force on obesity. The program, he said, "takes advantage of the fact that Ronald McDonald has such recognition with kids that if he tells them to get moving, maybe they will do it."

Source: Caroline E. Mayer, Washington Post, Friday, January 28, 2005.  

City to Surf – Meal plan for Sunday

For those Sydneysiders taking part in the City to Surf fun run this Sunday we have developed a race day nutrition and hydration plan to get you to Bondi in your best time yet. 

Aside from the obvious training, the most important nutritional goals for an event of this type are ensuring adequate hydration and carbohydrate levels before, during and after the race.  

Hydration

Physical activity increases body temperature, increases water loss via sweat, uses-up muscle and liver glycogen stores and can sometimes cause a fall in blood glucose levels.  Numerous studies confirm that exercise performance is impaired when an individual is dehydrated.  The effects of dehydration can begin when an individual is dehydrated by as little as 2% of body weight.  Water losses greater than 5% have been shown to reduce exercise performance by around 30%.     

Dehydration is most evident when the amount of water loss exceeds 3% of body weight.  This dehydration then leads to a fall in endurance, strength, and overall performance.  Dehydration also affects the ‘perception of effort’ experienced as exercise at the same intensity seems progressively ‘harder’ as dehydration worsens. 

Pre-race meal and hydration

Ideally you should consume a carbohydrate-rich breakfast 3-4 hours prior to the race (5:30-6:30am).  For those early risers amongst us here are some pre-race breakfast suggestions:

• Porridge with low-fat milk and fruit juice

• Breakfast cereal with milk or yoghurt

• Pancakes/pikelets with syrup, jam or honey 

• Toast, muffins or crumpets with jam

• Rice cakes or bread rolls with sliced banana

• Fresh fruit or fruit salad

• Baked beans or spaghetti on toast

• Banana and honey roll

You should also drink at least 500mL fluid with your pre-race breakfast then continue to consume 150-300mL fluid every 15-20 minutes up until about one hour to 45 minutes before the race (leaving time for a toilet stop before the start). 

For those of you who are not planning on being up quite so early, a pre-race light breakfast or snack 1-2 hours prior to the race could include:

• Small serving of breakfast cereal, ½ cup of milk, and juice

• Smoothie based on low-fat milk or soy milk, low-fat yoghurt and mango/banana/berries

• Fresh fruit or small serving of fruit salad with low-fat yoghurt

• Low-fat breakfast bar or muesli bar and a banana

• Sports bar

• 800-1000 ml of sports drink

• 500 ml of fruit juice, soft drink or flavoured mineral water

• 3 medium pieces of fruit or 2 bananas

• Thick-sliced toast with jam or honey

• 3 thick rice cakes with jam or honey

• 2 crumpets with vegemite, jam or honey                                

• banana jaffle

You should also drink at least 500mL fluid with your pre-race snack then continue to consume 150-300mL fluid every 15-20 minutes up until about one hour to 45 minutes before the race (leaving time for a toilet stop before the start). 

The intake of a large but comfortable volume of fluid (eg. 5mL/kg body weight) just prior to the race can actually help some athletes prepare their stomachs for fluid intake during exercise.  However this is only suggested for those of you who have tried this technique during training and are sure that it won’t cause stomach cramps or lead you straight to the long queue at the port-a-loo. 

Hydration during the race: Sports drinks or water? 

Thirst is not a reliable indicator of adequate hydration during exercise.  During the race try to consume about 150-350mL of sports drink every 15-20 minutes from the start.  Until recently it was considered that carbohydrate intake (such as sports drinks) during exercise would only benefit exercise lasting more than 90 minutes.  However there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that carbohydrate intake can benefit performance in events involving high-intensity exercise of approximately one-hour duration.  Sports drinks provide a valuable source of carbohydrate (sugars/glucose) during exercise and deliver energy to working muscles.  The sodium content of sports drinks also enhances the body’s retention of water. 

Recovery

To ensure effective recovery (replace body fluid and carbohydrate stores) aim to replace fluids by drinking water or sports drinks throughout Sunday afternoon and aim to eat a balanced meal containing carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats within 4 hours of completion of the race.

See you at Bondi!