In this minute-long audio slideshow aimed at our state’s lawmakers, Seattle high schooler Daniel Perlmutter makes a common-sense plea for taxing candy and soda to pay for kids' health care. It’s simple, he says.

“Candy … it’s fun, but it’s not food. Yet our tax laws treat candy like bananas, bread and milk. That’s preposterous!”

The House has made the right move by proposing a tax on candy and gum. Our state loses out on more than $40 million in revenue every year because these sweets are exempt from state sales tax.

First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled a plan to combat the growing problem of childhood obesity today, calling on communities across the country to renew their commitments to helping kids develop healthy eating and exercise habits.

Half of US kids will be on food stamps during their childhood, according to a new report by Washington University in St. Louis. That’s half the kids on the school bus, half the kids at the park, half the kids out trick or treating last weekend. And in some communities that experience a higher burden of poverty, the numbers are far higher. 90% of African American kids will be on food stamps at some point during childhood.

"This is a real danger sign that we as a society need to do a lot more to protect children," states lead author of the study, Pr

Results of the latest research on how well school wellness policies are doing at reducing childhood obesity are mixed. Nearly one-third of U.S. children are overweight or obese, and that figure shows no signs of declining.  A new Robert Woods Johnson Foundation report has found that most schools have developed policies for improving students’ nutrition and increasing the amount of exercise children get at school, as called for by the 2004 Child Nutrition Act. But many of these policies are weak, full of shoulds, mays, and will try tos, and devoid of enforcement mechanisms.