New York CIty Council Member Ben Kallos

Health

Public health is a necessity in a City as large as ours. All of us from infants to seniors should have access to quality health care. We must support our health institutions and provide preventative health care services such as immunizations to lower expensive treatment costs. Cutting vital health care services from our budget has historically only increased treatment costs in the long term. Through proper support and preventative health care services we can make our City a healthier place to live.

Capital New York 'Happy Meals' bill divides Council, raises broader questions by Dan Goldberg

'Happy Meals' bill divides Council, raises broader questions

Ben Kallos, a Democrat from Manhattan, would like meals that are marketed to kids using toys or other promotional items include a serving of fruit, vegetables or whole grain. The so-called Happy Meals bill would also require that meals be limited to 500 calories, with fewer than 35 percent them coming from fat, fewer than 10 percent coming from saturated fat, fewer than 10 percent from added sugars and fewer than 600 milligrams of sodium.

Kallos cited a 2014 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which found more than one-in-five New York City children were obese, which the city’s health department believes leads to heart disease, diabetes and other chronic conditions.

“If we continue down this path, children in New York City will have shorter expected life spans than their parents,” Kallos said. “That’s not just depressing, that’s not acceptable.”

Capital New York ‘Happy Meals’ bill divides Council, raises broader questions by Dan Goldberg

‘Happy Meals’ bill divides Council, raises broader questions

A City Council proposal to regulate foods that come with toys split members of the health committee on Tuesday and raised broader issues over what the de Blasio administration can and should do to combat childhood obesity.

Ben Kallos, a Democrat from Manhattan, would like meals that are marketed to kids using toys or other promotional items include a serving of fruit, vegetables or whole grain. The so-called Happy Meals bill would also require that meals be limited to 500 calories, with fewer than 35 percent them coming from fat, fewer than 10 percent coming from saturated fat, fewer than 10 percent from added sugars and fewer than 600 milligrams of sodium.

Kallos cited a 2014 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which found more than one-in-five New York City children were obese, which the city’s health department believes leads to heart disease, diabetes and other chronic conditions.

“If we continue down this path, children in New York City will have shorter expected life spans than their parents,” Kallos said. “That’s not just depressing, that’s not acceptable.”

Christian Science Monitor Why New York City is considering Happy Meal restrictions again by Michelle Toh

Why New York City is considering Happy Meal restrictions again

The New York City Council is once again deliberating the “Healthy Happy Meals” bill, a proposal that would set nutritional standards for the meals sold with toys in fast food restaurants.

Forbes Will Mandating 'Healthy Happy Meals' Solve Childhood Obesity? by Arlene Weintraub

Will Mandating 'Healthy Happy Meals' Solve Childhood Obesity?

The Healthy Happy Meals bill, proposed by NYC council member Benjamin Kallos, would require that fast-food meals marketed with toys or other merchandise meant for kids include a serving of fruit, vegetables or whole grain, with no more than 35% of calories coming from fat. Furthermore, the meals must contain fewer than 10% of calories from saturated fat or added sugar, and they can’t have more than 600 milligrams of sodium.

To determine whether those changes would affect how children eat, a team of researchers from New York University analyzed receipts from 358 purchases made at McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s restaurants in the NYC area. The purchases included 422 meals for children. Not surprisingly, the NYU researchers found that 98% of the meals did not meet the proposed guidelines, according to the paper, published online by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. On average, adults purchased 600 calories per child, and 36% of those calories came from fat.

International Business Times NYC 'Happy Meals' Bill: Childhood Obesity Rate Could Fall If Nutritional Requirements Implemented by Jackie Salo

NYC 'Happy Meals' Bill: Childhood Obesity Rate Could Fall If Nutritional Requirements Implemented

The bill, which was proposed by New York City Council member Ben Kallos, also would limit the meals to 500 calories or less, with fewer than 35 percent of calories coming from fat, only as much as 10 percent from saturated fat, fewer than 10 percent from added sugars and no more than 600 milligrams of sodium.

New York Times Navigating a Bureaucratic Maze to Renew Food Stamp Benefits by Winnie Hu

Navigating a Bureaucratic Maze to Renew Food Stamp Benefits

Councilman Ben Kallos, a Democrat from the Upper East Side, has also introduced legislation that would require city agencies to send pre-filled applications for food stamps and other government benefits for those who are eligible, using information from previous enrollments or applications. These agencies would also be required to inform people who apply for food stamps if they are eligible for additional benefits.

“We must work to eliminate the bureaucracy, paperwork and waste that prevent our poorest from accessing and keeping the benefits they need to be lifted from poverty,” Mr. Kallos said.

Mr. Kallos, who is chairman of the council’s governmental operations committee, added that he would also work for federal and state changes that could eventually allow city residents to receive food stamps automatically based on tax filings, and to continue receiving those benefits as long as they remained eligible with no renewal process.

Glenna Flournoy, 85, a retired teacher of English as a second language, and City Councilman Ben Kallos at the Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center. Mr. Kallos has introduced legislation to make the process of getting food stamps and other benefits easier. CreditÁngel Franco/The New York Times

Edible Manhattan Meet Ben Kallos: The New York City Councilman Who Keeps Office Hours at the Greenmarket by Talia Ralph

Meet Ben Kallos: The New York City Councilman Who Keeps Office Hours at the Greenmarket

City Councilman Ben Kallos has come a long way from his days at The Bronx High School of Science, though not so far from its rooftop greenhouse, where he tilled the soil as a teenager. The council member has been at the forefront of pushing New York City’s food agenda to new heights, from providing 1.1 million children with free lunches and dinners to making fresh fruits and vegetables available at NYCHA housing developments to cooking for his constituents at the Greenmarkets.

We caught up with Councilman Kallos to talk new initiatives, old favorite restaurants and where New York stands in terms of progressive food policy in America (hint: relatively speaking, we’re doing pretty well).

New York Daily News Councilman Ben Kallos wants to set stricter nutrition standards for kids' meals that come with toys by Corinne Lestch

Councilman Ben Kallos wants to set stricter nutrition standards for kids' meals that come with toys

City officials want kids’ fast-food meals to be not just happy — but also healthy.

Councilman Ben Kallos is set to introduce a bill Thursday that would set stricter nutrition standards for kids’ meals that come with toys.

The proposed legislation would bar fast-food joints from offering free toys, coupons and other incentives with a kids’ meal if the food served contains more than 500 calories and more than 600 mg of sodium.

They want to require the meal to also contain at least half a cup of fruit, vegetables or a serving of whole-grain products.

“Throughout the fast food industry, you’re seeing that toys are being linked to meals,” said Kallos (D-Manhattan). “And as a result, we have a very high obesity rate.”