The following fast food restaurants might be in a bit of trouble:

1. McDonald’s
2. Burger King
3. Wendy’s
4. Taco Bell
5. Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)
6. Arby’s
7. Jack in the Box
8. Dairy Queen

Here’s why: These restaurants aren’t really following through with their claims to be healthier.

The specifics: The American Journal of Preventive Medicine presented its results from a 14-year study that examined trends at these eight fast-food restaurants.

The study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Healthy Eating Research program, collected data from 1998 and 2010. Using the USDA’s healthy eating index, researchers found that on average, fast food meals only improved from 45 to 48 out of 100 possible points.

That’s like being given a decade to study and retake a test and only improving your score 3 points — not even a full letter grade of improvement. Based on this scale, collectively, fast food restaurants are still getting an “F.”

That failure a pretty big disappointment, especially when you consider all the pronouncements by each of these fast food restaurants that they have added healthier menu options, switched to healthier cooking fats and reduced sodium. Fast food is ubiquitous in the U.S. diet – and with menu items containing high amounts of fat, sugar, and salt, has contributed to increased risks of diet-related chronic diseases, like heart disease and diabetes.

We have all heard the claims these fast food giants have made in terms of healthier menu items and options … now let’s hope it doesn’t take another decade for them to actually follow through on their promises.

Join MindStream’s fight against obesity!

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Founder and CEO Ray Travaglione poses with the 2012 Startup of the Year Trophy

We were named Successful Start-Up of the Year.

Finalists were judged on a variety of criteria, including business goals, innovation of service, employee training and retention, response to adversity and community involvement.

We’re both honored and proud, for this is a prestigious event full of worthy competitors.

This year’s celebration recognized companies from two different stages of business development – Small Business of the Year for companies in business for five-plus years and Successful Start-Up of the Year for companies in business from 3-5 years.

But wait … that’s not all.

Actually, we received two awards. The second one sets a record in the state of South Carolina. MindStream’s founder and CEO, Ray Travaglione, is the first small business owner ever to be awarded Small Business of the Year for two separate businesses.

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Our 14 students from Independence, Mo. returned to Kansas City International Airport on Friday, and KSHB’s Mark Clegg was on the scene to capture their return.

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Stringer spoke of his own childhood and adulthood, using it and other examples to paint a picture of what it truly means to say “Yes, I will,” and the principles of his “Never Surrender” philosophy.

Stringer also presented each of MindStream’s students with a copy of his book, “What’s your Attitude?” and everyone posed for a group shot at the MindStream sign after Stringer’s talk.

For more information Stringer’s program, visit the Achievement Through Attitude website!

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By Kat Walsh

Dear Soon To Be High School Graduates,

You’ve entered the final semester, the home stretch, the ninth inning. Can you feel that you’re almost at the finish line? You’ve been working to reach this goal for a while, and now that you’re almost there, you might find yourself wondering: what next?

It’s a big, important question that every commencement speech on high school and college campuses across the country attempt to answer. But who has time to read all those transcripts?

Well, me apparently.

So allow me share with you some of the best advice I found. You’re welcome. And most importantly, good luck!

Oprah Winfrey: Transform Your Wounds into Wisdom

Turn your wounds into wisdom. You will be wounded many times in your life. You’ll make mistakes. Some people will call them failures but I have learned that failure is really God’s way of saying, “Excuse me, you’re moving in the wrong direction.” It’s just an experience, just an experience.
–Wellesley College commencement, 1997

Jon Stewart: The Right Path

How do you know what is the right path to choose to get the result that you desire? The honest answer is this: You won’t. And accepting that greatly eases the anxiety of your life experience.
–The College of William and Mary commencement, 2004

Steve Odland  (CEO, Office Depot)

Always do the right thing. You know what it is. Don’t just pick a career at which you’re good. Pursue something that comes intuitively for you and that you love instinctively. Success will follow.

If everyone’s doing it, don’t. Popularity wanes. Fame and fortune are fleeting. Reputation remains. How you treat others defines who you are.

David Kong (CEO, Best Western)

Life seems unfair at times, but it’s important to stay true to one’s beliefs. In the next 10 years, be patient and build a solid foundation. Sometimes it’s difficult to see people who don’t work as hard or are less talented get ahead.

Some people are luckier in some things than others. It’s OK. In the end, hard work and dedication always pay handsome dividends.

Jim McCann (CEO, 1-800-Flowers.com)

Your youth is one of the main things you bring to the table. Share your energy and excitement. It will cost you nothing extra to have a passionate personality. Find a way to share your unique perspective with your new colleagues.

You understand things about technology and culture that my generation only reads about. Use this to your advantage.

 

Thanks to the following sources: Advice from the Top: Words of wisdom for graduates, The 8 Best Sound Bites of Graduation Advice.

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We will miss you all here at MindStream, but here’s a Facebook album with all the photos from Thursday’s event!

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By Kat Walsh

Summer is on the horizon – and definitely on everyone’s minds.

That is especially true for all the staff at MindStream – we are busy planning and preparing for our 2013 summer program. Seeing what is in store for our campers this summer made me think about the summer camp experiences of my colleagues.

With such a varied and talented staff from all over the country, some of us must have gone to summer camp, right?

So I went in search of my coworkers and their camp memories from summers past.

First person I was able to corner: Harry Plumer, our webmaster and multimedia producer.

CAMP NAME AND LOCATION: Kingsley Pines on Panther Lake in Raymond, Maine. I was one of the very few “local” kids there; most of the other campers came from all over. So I was able to have these great new friends from all over the country; and some of those friendships even continue today.

WHAT TYPE OF CAMP WAS IT? A coed, overnight summer camp that did a little bit of everything; land, water and outdoor adventures.

HOW OLD WERE YOU: 11 and 12 years old. I think. Or 10 and 11. Or something like that.

HOW LONG DID YOU STAY? All summer long.

HOW MANY SUMMERS DID YOU ATTEND? Two

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO AT CAMP?  I was best at sailing those little Sunfish sailboats – I wasn’t the strongest, but I did really enjoy it and got pretty good. We would earn merit badges for every activity we learned how to do. I still remember that as much as I loved the sea kayaks, I was never able to an Eskimo Roll. To be honest, I think only the camp counselors knew how to do them right.

LEAST FAVORITE ACTIVITY? Having to take turns cleaning the BIFFYS (Best Indoor Facility for You).  And the food at camp wasn’t that great. At all.

BEST MEMORY? Bonding with my cabin mates. My cabin, Cabin Tumbledown, was the largest cabin. There were 15 of us. And the cabins competed against each other. Our archrival was Cabin Katahdin.

ANY TEARS FOR ANY REASON? I might have cried once, but only because I wasn’t good enough at mountain biking at to on a Saturday biking trip.

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Yes, there are literally thousands of games that really do no harm -  skills-based sports games, city-building games and multi-tiered adventures with no immoral or violent overtones are in abundance in the gaming universe.

But while teaching real-world skills is an admirable goal for a video game, such games also keep the player sequestered and seated indoors in the process.

Which brings us to this question:

What if there was a video game that gets its players outside and active?

Parents have been trying to get the same results in their kids – go outside and play – for years. What makes a video game developer think they can do any better?

One video game realized that if it can’t do better than all the well-meaning parents that have gone before it, it will join them in their efforts. Specifically, the time-honored tradition of bribery.

Yes, you read that correctly – Bribery.

According to Zamzee, it’s working.

I discovered Zamzee when it was highlighted on CNN’s feature, “Gaming Reality – Wiring the World to Fight Childhood Obesity.”

Zamzee looked at the fact that a third of American kids are overweight or obese; and that screen time has been blamed for fueling this national epidemic. In looking to create a solution, Zamzee is using the addictive, entertainment value of gaming to promote health  for kids and adults.

“The thinking was, how can we use games for good?” said Fred Dillon, director of product development at Zamzee. “It’s obvious kids really like games. Is there a way to take things that kids are already doing and power them for good and health?”

Meet Zamzee

In a nutshell, Zamzee is a game that gets kids moving. But it’s more than just an online game, it is also a meter that measures activity and a website that makes moving fun – and rewarding.

The game attempts to instill behavior changes by rewarding exercise and teaching healthy habits. It blends the real world and online experience, because when a teen moves in the real world, that movement racks up points for his/her avatar which can be redeemed in real life for everything from gift cards to donations to nonprofit causes.

“We’re hoping that this is igniting a desire to move for the rest of their lives,” said Richard Tate, Zamzee’s vice president of communications and marketing.

How It Works

The gamer wears an accelerometer – called the Zamzee activity meter – that monitors his moderate to vigorous activity. When he loads data from this device through a USB port into his computer, it shows how much activity he has had since his last login.

“I’m constantly winning things,” one 12-year-old player said. “The fact that the prizes are real life prizes – money, shirts and things that aren’t going to be gone when you turn off computer monitor – there’s more interest.”

Does It Work?

In research conducted by Zamzee’s parent company HopeLab, studies show that kids who use Zamzee move an average of almost 60 percent more than kids who do not. That’s the equivalent of doing an extra 45 minutes of nonstop pushups each week!

Zamzee appears to be making admirable progress in creating a viable solution to what really is an overwhelming problem. So for this alone, we must give them the credit they are do.

Next step? Seeing Zamzee top this year’s list of what kids what most for Christmas. Think it will happen?

Kat Walsh is MindStream’s copywriter and all-around word nerd. She can be reached at kat@mindstreamacademy.com.

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