Russia Accuses Tobacco Makers of Hooking Women, Children

Philip Morris International Inc. (PM), British American Tobacco (BATS) and other cigarette makers hooked Russian women and children on smoking, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said, vowing to crack down on the habit.

In Russia, the world’s second-largest market for cigarette makers after China, 39 percent of the population are regular smokers, according to the World Health Organization. About 400,000 Russians, or 0.3 percent of the population, die each year from smoking-related diseases, Medvedev said. That compares with 114,000, or 0.2 percent in the U.K.

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Nestle to cut sugar and salt in breakfast cereals

Nestle SA and General Mills Inc will cut sugar and salt in the children's breakfast cereals they jointly market outside North America, the latest attempt by major food companies to respond to health concerns.

They will reformulate 20 cereal brands popular with children and teenagers by 2015, boosting wholegrains and calcium and aiming for average reductions of 24 percent in sugar and 12 percent in sodium.

The reformulation will affect about 5.3 billion portions of cereals sold each year.

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12 most important things to know about kids today

Kids today aren’t like they used to be, and Angela Maiers share with us why.

Angela Maiers is an award-winning educator, speaker, consultant and professional trainer known for her work in literacy, leadership and global communications.

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A cross-media project on sustainable energy and energy saving

ENERGY BITS is a cross-media project on sustainable energy and energy saving, supported by the EU's Intelligent Europe Programme,with the aim to stimulate behavioural change and promote innovative pratices among the 14-17 years old. Its ressource platform propose a collection of 24 documentaries, a webdocumentary, participative tools and a serious game in 9 languages.

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ElectroCity: teaches players all about energy, sustainability and environmental management

A hands-on management style game, Electrocity puts students in control of their own virtual town or city. Helps them get to grips with geographical and social problems like spatial planning, urban development and ecological responsibility.


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Digital Passport For Children: a New Way to Teach Digital Literacy and Citizenship Encourages Responsible Online Behavior

Common Sense Media has launched Digital Passport, a web-based interactive learning experience geared toward elementary schools. 

The service uses videos and games to encourage responsible practices while using the Internet.

Digital Passport allows teachers to set up groups of students with accounts to an online “Passport.” Over time, students earn badges while progressing through game levels. Each game section begins with a short video of an older teenager discussing a situation where their online practices landed them in trouble. 

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Kids cook Monday: Because Kids are much more likely to eat what they make.

The Kids Cook Monday initiative encourages families to set aside the first night of every week for cooking and eating together as a family. The Kids Cook Monday provides examples of family friendly recipes and video demonstrations along with a free starter family dinner toolkit- making it easy for families to cook and eat together every Monday.

The Kids Cook Monday is a project of of The Monday Campaigns. The Monday Campaigns is in association with Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University Newhouse School of Public Communications.

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LazyTown Airship Challenge, a new game available across mobile platforms

AirShip Challenge promotes a healthy and active lifestyle for kids of all ages. The player navigates the Sportacus AirShip through the clouds above LazyTown and collects points by capturing falling SportsCandy.

Magnus Scheving, CEO, creator and star of LazyTown says, “We know from the thousands of emails that we receive from parents that Sportacus is a fantastic role model for kids. The Airship Challenge is a fantastic way to keep children entertained while travelling or at home while teaching them the benefits of eating food that is good for them.”

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Anti-Obesity Ads Blaming Overweight Parents

New Anti-Obesity Ads Blaming Overweight Parents Spark Criticism The ads were created by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota "Our intent in creating these ads was really just to show good parents having moments of realization that they needed to change their own behavior in order to send the right message to their kid," Marc Manley says (Vice President and Chief Pevention Officer) He says, the problem of obesity in Minnesota and nationwide is so tough, they needed a new, more dramatic approach.

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Fun games that improve athletic ability and build self-confidence

Crazy Games is a children's exercise program that is a combination of several different sports. It mixes up all the sports and combines the required skills from a number of sports to create games children love to play. It enhances the fundamental athletic skills used in soccer, baseball, hockey, volleyball , golf, and football. In addition, children have fun improving their athletic ability by participating in sprint races, tag games, water balloon fights, etc.

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