Nov. 18, 2011 - PRLog — New Albany, OH 11/18/11 – Congress recently unveiled a new bill which includes language that will allow a serving of pizza to be considered a vegetable if spread with two tablespoons of tomato paste.

The bill would deny funding to the new school meal nutrition standards that were proposed earlier this year by the USDA. Those standards include increasing the availability of fruits and vegetables on the school lunch menu while limiting the availability of high sodium items and starchy vegetables such as potatoes.

According to a statement from Margo Wootan, the Nutrition Policy Director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, “This legislation may go down in nutritional history as a bigger blunder than when the Reagan Administration tried (but failed) to credit ketchup as a vegetable in the school lunch program. Pizza should be served with a vegetable, not count as one.”

The bill comes in response to heavy lobbying campaigns from large food corporations that wanted to fight the proposed USDA standards. “Although many people are outraged by the bill, this does not surprise me,” said Timothy Ward, Vice President of Operations for Athletic Revolution International, the fastest growing youth fitness franchise organization in the country. Improvement Warrior Athlete-New Albany was formerly Athletic Revolution-Hilliard.

“What we have to realize is that businesses are always going to try and protect their own revenue streams. It is up to us as responsible adults to empower our kids to make healthy food choices. We have the power to change lives regardless of what the government decides to do.”

Jason Yun, owner of Improvement Warrior Athlete in New Albany near Columbus, OH could not agree more. At IWA, kids and teens 8-18 years old are given the opportunity to learn the value of physical activity and healthy food choices on their health and wellness… as are their parents.

“All we need to do is take personal responsibility for the well-being of our children our young athletes and the community. If we do that, everything will work out just fine,” said Yun, “Congress is basically telling kids and people in general it's ok to eat more pizza. There is an obesity epidemic which is getting worse every year. The last thing we need is kids eating more pizza.”

And it’s true. What kind of vegetables did you serve your kids at dinner last night? When was the last time you enjoyed participating in free play with your kids at the local park? If you aren’t ashamed to answer those questions, your kids are probably happy and healthy.

In an effort to help parents help their kids, Improvement Warrior Athlete will be giving away as a new year 2022 gift- one free month of fun and fitness training to all kids aged 8-18 in the New Albany, OH area if they register before the February, 28, 2022. To take advantage of this opportunity, contact Improvement Warrior Athlete or call 614-304-1426

“With or without the government’s support, we will continue fighting to keep the kids of New Albany, Ohio healthy. Columbus has some great programs already in place with 10 TV's Commit To Be Fit program. But nutrition is a very important part of any child's day. Good nutrition will give them more energy and strength throughout the day so they can be better students as well as excelling in sports or fitness classes like we do at IWA,” proclaims Yun, “Parents please be proactive with your children and use common sense— does feeding Pizza to your kids seem like the best way to get vegetables for your kids?”

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