Last weekend I was away at a conference, the Social Workers Campaign School, held at The University of Connecticut’s Institute for Political Social Work. It was an amazingly empowering experience, which has left me thinking about my social work and political future. With so much to take in, I have had little time to blog. This unfortunately seems to be the trend lately, but I am 5 weeks away from graduation! I hope to get back in the blogging swing ASAP!

Here are this weeks headlines:

HERSHEY’s Releases Gluten-Free Product List
With Hershey’s being such a big business, this is a move in the right direction for better understanding of safe candy! Thanks for compiling a list!

National Foundation for Celiac Awareness Selects Trevelino/Keller to Roll out new Gluten-free Initiative for Restaurants
Having done work with the influences on media impacts on diet, I find it more important than most to understand where our media and what we learn comes from. When staring a new initiative that can help shift the perception of something, this is equally important. This article describes the dynamics of a marketing relationship, and the importance of understanding in this relationship if you hope to get your message across effectively. I look forward to seeing what this partnership has to offer restaurants and gluten free diners!

 Does Exercise Improve Bone Mineral Density for Women on a Gluten-free Diet
This study suggests that following a gluten free diet alone is sufficient to improve bone density 2 and 5 years after starting a gluten free diet after diagnosis. Participants were given questionnaires which suggested that  higher levels of physical activity did not improve bone density. No study changes were made to the levels of fitness, and subjects continued normally with their routine. As a researcher, I would have liked to have seen a comparison group in which enhancing the groups daily physical activity was a variable. This, to me, would have helped solidify their findings.